Firefighters extinguish large junkyard fire in Opa-Locka

OPA-LOCKA, FLA. (WSVN) - Firefighters battled a blaze that erupted at an automobile junkyard in Opa-Locka Friday.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews responded to South Florida Auto Recycling, located along Northwest 22nd Avenue and 139th Street just before 9:45 a.m.

7SkyForce HD hovered above the scene where plumes of black smoke and heavy flames could be seen coming from the business.

Several cars were seen on fire, some were stacked on top of each other.

Responding firefighters found over 20 vehicles engulfed in flames.

“You could hear it. It was blowing up. It was just like boom!” said Mirage. “Then you could see all the smoke. It was real scary.”

Nineteen MDFR units responded to the scene to battle the blaze.

“Accessibility is definitely one of the issues,” said MDFR spokesperson Maggie Castro. “Typically, junkyards are pretty secure, and they have limited means of ingress and egress, so accessibility to the cars themselves is difficult. Plus, the way the vehicles are kept at junkyards, they’re typically kept stacked one on top of the other, so when there is a fire that involves multiple layers of vehicles, it’s difficult to get to the bottom ones at certain times. There’re a lot of vehicles piled up. It’s not an uncommon thing to happen, but we don’t have a particular cause at this time.”

Crews set up outside the perimeter before installing high-pressure hoses inside, one of which knocked a firefighter off his feet.

No injuries were reported.

By 10:40 a.m., the fire was under control.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

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