More than 350 people were hastily evacuated from an Orlando apartment complex last week after fire officials found cracks throughout the building along with doors that wouldn’t open.
Local news outlets reported that a panicky resident called 911 Thursday morning to report popping and cracking sounds and a jammed front door at The Rialto, a five-story complex in southwest Orlando. Orange County Fire Rescue workers and a building inspector surveyed the building, found signs of structural instability and decided to evacuate all the residents, the Orlando Sentinel and Central Florida Public Media reported.
A structural engineer hired by the complex was examining the building over the weekend, news sites reported.
The complex, near a lake and with ground-level shops, was built in 2014. It had passed an annual inspection in September, which found no structural damage, the Sentinel noted. But last week, firefighters found damage on all five floors.
Local emergency management and the American Red Cross worked to find hotel accommodations for displaced residents, and hotels had offered discounted rates, news sites reported.
The evacuation is the latest since Florida officials became more alert to potential structural issues following the 2021 collapse of a condominium building near Miami Beach, a collapse that killed 98 people. After that tragedy, Florida lawmakers passed legislation requiring more inspections and more reserve funding for most condominium buildings around the state.
In 2025, a Clearwater condo building was evacuated after a concrete beam developed significant cracking. In 2023, a condo building on Biscayne Bay was deemed unsafe after a 60-year inspection found sagging floors and termite damage.
Photo: The Rialto apartment complex in Orlando (Google Street View)
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