EL PORTAL, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units have extinguished a blaze after a car and duplex caught fire in El Portal.
Heavy smoke could be seen billowing from the home along Northeast 90th Street and Northeast 2nd Avenue, at around 4:30 p.m., Wednesday.
Wideline Clairisier, whose home was damaged by the fire, said she lives with her two kids and her boyfriend.
“I’m happy my kids weren’t here when it happened,” she said. “I’m fine, as you can see.”
According to fire officials, witnesses told them the flames may have started above the home after some powerlines began to spark.
“I just got off work, so I went home, and then I was inside putting my clothes on, and I heard someone honking outside,” Clairisier said. “Then, when I went outside, there was fire, and my car was next to the car that burned, so I moved my car real quick, and then someone already called police, so I stood here waiting for the police.”
Fire investigators said witnesses watched as the powerline shorted out in the area, sending sparks onto a trash can, which was found completely melted.
“I saw a big fire ball coming out from the back of one of the units,” said a witness in the area.
The flames then spread to an area near mattresses on the ground, which then led the flames to reach the car that caught fire. The blaze eventually spread from the SUV to the duplex.
7News cameras captured the parked car on fire in the home’s driveway. Another vehicle on the scene was also damaged by the fire.
“The car and the back half of the structure is pretty much a loss,” said a witness in the area.
No injuries were reported.
The American Red Cross will now assist the families affected.
Despite witnesses’ reports about the powerline sparks, fire officials are not eliminating the possibility that the blaze was caused by a trash fire. The definitive cause of the fire, therefore, remains unknown.
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