Residents of Oasis Grand Tower II in Fort Myers forced to evacuate due to fire

Crews responded to a fire at a luxury apartment complex in downtown Fort Myers on Wednesday morning.

Community members living in Oasis Grand Tower II say they woke up to the smell of smoke, which was reported to the Fort Myers Fire Department around 7 a.m. One woman says she was terrified when she heard her smoke alarm go off, so she called her coworker who lives in the same building and screamed, “Get out!”

Residents say police officers knocked on everyone’s doors and made people evacuate. Fort Myers Fire Chief Tracy McMillion tells WINK News the fire started in the trash chute, which caused the smoke to travel all the way to the 30th floor. Residents were let back into the building around 8 a.m.

Officials say there were no injuries and that their focus was getting people out.

“The fire was actually in the trash chute, so they were able to go ahead and mitigate that, so that main issue was the evacuating smoke that came from the trash chute and went to some of the upper floors,” McMillion said.

“This morning, there was the strongest smell, and I woke up and I was super nervous, and then the fire started leaping,” said Yuko Yamaguchi, a resident of Tower II.

Another resident who lives on the 26th floor says all she could do when she woke up was grab her important documents and call her neighbors to make sure they were awake and getting out. FMFD says its investigation is complete and has turned it over to the property owners. Investigators say they don’t know the cause of the fire, but it doesn’t seem to be suspicious or of malicious intent.

The complex has been the subject of concern from residents and experts due to reported safety issues, some even citing worries about potential trash fires.