SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - At least two townhomes were burned down after a fire broke out in Southwest Miami-Dade, Thursday morning.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the scene along the 1100 block of Southwest 116th Terrace, just before 6 a.m.
“Apparently somebody called in that they heard a loud explosion and when they came out of the house, the roof was on fire,” said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Ralph Paena. “Some of the neighbors where the main occupancy was actually woke up their neighbor, and said, ‘Your house is on fire,’ and brought him out.”
7Skyforce flew over the scene, where flames could be seen shooting through the roof of the townhomes.
One neighbor captured cell phone video as firefighters tried to control the flames.
Upon their arrival, crews found the owner of the home outside along with his two cats. The man was checked out on the scene and is expected to be OK.
Fire officials were seen administering CPR to the animals. One cat had to be resuscitated.
According to the fire chief, the fire started in a shed that was in the back of the townhome. The flames then jumped, causing two homes to catch on fire.
“The fire did cross over into another townhome, so we had approximately two townhomes on fire.”
A third townhouse also suffered smoke damage.
The fire was upgraded to a second alarm fire due to the wind, that was causing the flames to spread.
“The wind was blowing the fire towards the west and luckily I lived towards the east of that same house and nothing happened,” said neighbor Mario Mier.
Officials said the blaze caused the roof of at least one of the units to collapse.
“I just saw the fire and flames. I heard everyone — ‘Get out. Get out,'” said neighbor Angel Navarro.
Navarro had called 911.
“I got out of my house and just the fire and flames,” Navarro said. “I was already on my way to school, but I can’t go to school now, so once everything happened I just went out and just tried to get a hold of my family – woke them up, then we all got out and we tried to get out as fast as possible before anything happened to us. I just feel bad for the guy who’s right next door, ’cause I’ve been neighbors with him for about 12 years.”
Other neighbors also feared their houses would suffer.
“We didn’t know which way the wind was gonna start shifting at the time, and there were a lot of fire particles flying up in the air and it could catch anything, even trees,” said Mier. “It was too much. The flame was tremendous. It was, like, 30 feet high.”
According to officials, the fire is under control.
The Red Cross is helping the families who were displaced find a place to stay, as they will not be able to go back in their homes.
“It’s scary. You never like to hear anything like this. It’s just a scary situation,” said a neighbor.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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