A pan of fried chicken left on an oven at an apartment complex in Seminole County, Fla., Wednesday is being blamed for sparking a massive fire that left 40 families homeless, according to Local 6 News.
Firefighters responded to reports of flames shooting from several windows at the Country Lakes apartment complex just after 11 p.m. Tuesday night.
When they arrived they found fire had spread to several units.
After all tenants were evacuated, a man said he was frying chicken and walked away for just a minute before the dish caught fire.
He said he tried to put the fire out before calling 911, which apparently allowed the flames to spread, according to Local 6 News.
Forty people were left homeless because of the fire, officials said.
"I could have died over some fried chicken left on the stove," an unidentified woman told Local 6 News after the fire.
Several tenants were also angry after noticing that the apartment's fire wall was not maintained.
The owner of the Country Lakes faces possible fines for not maintaining the fire wall, according to Local 6 reporter Jessica Sanchez.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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