Lynn, who did not want her last name published, said she woke up to the sound of her neighbor beating on her door, yelling for her to call 911.
"When I came out here, it looked like something had been thrown up on the porch, because the fire was actually going into the building,” Lynn said.
Her first thought was that someone had tossed a fire bomb at the house.
The woman told firefighters she believed her boyfriend was trapped in one of the apartments, and "I still don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
Neither does his sister, Linda Armstrong. She said no one has heard from her brother, Kenneth Eugene McReynolds, 52, since the fire, and he was not one of those treated and released from a hospital.
She said the medical examiner has not notified her of his death.
McReynolds had lived in the building for several years, Armstrong said. He was known over the years by a number of nicknames, including Little Kenneth and Mac, she said.
"I can’t understand how a person could start a fire in a place of residence where maybe your intended victim wasn’t the only person living there. I’d like to see justice for all the victims of this,” Armstrong said.
Authorities were working Tuesday to identify the three victims.
Police were awaiting a ruling from the medical examiner before the deceased were officially classified as homicide victims.
Fire investigators said the apartment fire on SW 24 between Agnew and S Villa was intentionally set, but they released few details. Investigators from the fire and police departments were on the scene Tuesday evening.
41° 