Fire that injured two firefighters was set intentionally, officials say
Miami Fire Rescue said the structure fire that sent two firefighters to the hospital appears to have been set intentionally.
By Tynisa Senior, Faith Graham
Click here for updates on this story
MIAMI, Florida (WSVN) — Miami Fire Rescue said the structure fire that sent two firefighters to the hospital appears to have been set intentionally.
“We received a call for a three-story unoccupied structure that’s under renovation,” said City of Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez.
The fire was sparked at a building under renovation around 6:30 p.m., Monday, near the area of Northwest First Avenue and 14th Street in Overtown.
“When our units arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from all three floors,” said Lt. Sanchez.
Firefighters fought the blaze for two hours, during which one of them fell through the floor, officials reported.
“We had a firefighter who was working on the second floor who fell through the first floor,” said Lt. Sanchez. “Luckily, he landed. He was safe. He made his way out. He was evaluated immediately, but he was taken to the hospital just for precaution.”
A second firefighter suffered second-degree burns to the ear and forearm.
Although the building appeared to be vacant at the time of the fire, crews still went inside and conducted a thorough search.
“That’s the danger of firefighting and risking and going inside and making sure it was safe and no one was inside at the time of the fire,” said Lt. Sanchez.
Photos of the aftermath showed the beams and of the ceiling covered in soot.
Both firefighters are expected to be OK, but the question is no longer ‘how’ the fire started, but by who.
State Fire Marshals and Miami Police detectives are now the lead agencies on the investigation.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
