Tamarac, Florida – A two-alarm fire at a medical complex in Tamarac was brought under control by crews.

Tamarac Fire Rescue responded to the 7400 block of North University Drive at the University Physicians Pavilion on Tuesday afternoon.

7Skyforce hovered over the incident, catching firefighters battling flames on the building’s third floor.

Heavy smoke billowed from the building as rescuers worked out how to get a water supply inside. Firefighters had to break open some windows on one of the floors to ventilate the space.

“This is an old building with no fire sprinklers, so it was building up and that’s how it got so big,” Tamarac Fire Rescue firefighter Van Schoen explained.

Fortunately, workers were able to get the fire under control in half an hour.

The building was packed with people, patients, and workers when the fire broke out. When the fire alarm went off, everyone had to sprint for the exits.

Kristian Johnston, who works at a dermatologist’s office, assumed the alarm was just a drill until she noticed smoke.

“We opened the door and noticed smoke. So we took our patients, made sure they were all gone, went down the stairs, and then yelled to get back,” she explained.

Larry Rubinoff, who was at the pavilion for an appointment, reported hearing the glass break and saw the ceiling cave in.

“So as we came out into the main lobby, all the glass was shattering, the ceiling was crashing in,” he told me. “As wide as that window is, the flames encompassed the entire area, so it was surreal like in the movies.”

Another guest, Luis Sarcone, saw the same terrible scene.

“When I heard those windows pop, the two windows on top, they just exploded, I was like ‘OK,’ and when I saw the fire, I was like, ‘This is serious,'” according to Sarcone. “

Witnesses reported that the strong heat of the flames smashed the glass.

Johnston expressed gratitude that the fire did not break out earlier in the day, when the facility is typically busier.

“We have a lot of elderly patients using walkers. We would have needed to carry people out. It would have been lot worse if it had happened earlier in the day, so thank goodness it happened when it did,” she explained.

One person was sent to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital for smoke inhalation. It is unclear what their ailment is.

It is unclear how the fire began.