Burning candles -- lit because a family had no power in their apartment -- may have led to the death of an infant who perished in a blaze that tore through their Lauderhill apartment Monday night, authorities said.

Jada Reynolds, 11 months, died of smoke inhalation and burns, according to the Broward Medical Examiner. Her mother, Sasheena Reynolds, and 3-year-old sibling, Jahhael, 3, escaped unharmed, authorities said.

Fire officials confirmed that power had been shut off to the apartment and that a candle may have triggered the blaze.

And a witness said she heard the mother of the child crying afterward, saying she had lit a candle because her power was cut off and left her apartment briefly to go to the laundry facility in the complex.

Authorities from both Lauderhill and the state fire marshal's office were at the scene Tuesday, but were impeded in their investigation by concerns that the facility was unstable.

The fire erupted about 9 p.m. at the Falls of Inverrary complex. Flames and smoke radiated from a unit on the fourth floor of a building at 6010 S Falls Circle Dr., said Deputy Fire Chief Marc Celetti, a fire rescue spokesman.

As residents of the building's 72 units fled their homes, firefighters approached unit 401. But the fire spread to an adjoining corridor and roof over the building's southern-most wing, forcing firefighters to pull back and wait for more units to arrive, Celetti said.

Yvonne Beltran, 47, said she realized something was wrong when she stepped onto her balcony and heard someone yelling ``Fire!''

''I heard someone yelling, `Help me, help me','' she said.

Beltran ran through her apartment and into an outside hallway, where she saw a fire in a kitchen window of an apartment one story up.

By the time Beltran had reached the hallway, neighbors were already running to aid the screaming woman.

Beltran ran out of the building and called 911.

What was left of the apartment above Beltran's Tuesday morning was a heap of twisted metal and rubble. Its roof was nearly gone.

Beltran and her husband, Eduardo, 51, waited outside of their building Tuesday morning. They had been told inspectors would need to determine if the building was safe before they could return home.

At least eight units were damaged during the fire. The American Red Cross was on the scene to give families food and water and vouchers for clothing and shelter.

''We have not been able do any investigation other than what police are doing because of fire damage,'' Celetti said. ``We need to determine what we can do to stabilize the roof so we can actually conduct the investigation.''

Lauderhill's chief building official will be inspecting the damaged building, Celetti said.

Miami Herald staff writers Jennifer Mooney Piedra and Evan S. Benn contributed to this report.

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