MIAMI --
A man and a woman are dead and another women is critically injured after a house fire in Miami on Saturday, police said.
Miami Fire Rescue spokesman Lt. Ignatius Carrol said the fire started just before dawn near 21st Avenue and Southwest 13th Street.
"There was a bunch of smoke," said Eddie Castilla, who witnessed the fire. "The [firefighter] was on the roof of the house next door. I guess they broke a whole in the roof of the house and went inside."
Burglary bars over windows and doors delayed rescue attempts, and firefighters said they may have trapped the victims inside.
Neighbors were evacuated from their homes because of the fire.
"The Miami Police Department came and told us, You need to get out of the house, said neighbor Noel Blanco Jr. The flames were pretty impressive, pretty high. There was smoke everywhere.
Authorities said Armando Gonzalez, 61, was killed in the fire.
Gonzalez had been a star player at Miami Jai-Alai from 1968 to 1981.
Gonzalez's 56-year-old wife, Daisy Jimenez, and her elderly mother, 78-year-old Aleida Jimenez, were both given CPR on the sidewalk ad rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition.
Police said Jimenez died Saturday night.
Carroll said debris fell from the ceiling and injured a firefighter. He was pulled out of the home and treated on the scene, according to Carroll.
Officials are investigating the cause of the blaze, but said they do not believe it to be arson.
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