CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) - More than 1,000 residents in a Coral Gables neighborhood are without power after a power line snapped and fell on top of two cars, sparking a fire.
Officials said the cars caught on fire near Ferdinand Street off Southwest 57th Avenue when a live wire snapped and fell on top of them, at around 6 a.m. on Friday.
Neighbors were stunned by what they saw.
“They knocking our door at 5 o’clock in the morning, and everybody have to come out,” said Maria Mora.
“Then I heard all the sparking and snapping of the power lines,” said Maxine Longer.
“My one of my sons said, ‘Dad, I think the car is on fire’, you know, just over there,” said Brian Ahmes, “and I looked out his window, flames were everywhere.”
Coral Gables Fire Rescue and crews from Florida Power & Light arrived at the scene, ultimately making a split-second decision to shut down the power grid to prevent the fire from spreading further.
“Our crews made a quick decision to shut down the FPL power grid in order to save the house, because at that time, the fire was extending into the house,” said Coral Gables Fire Rescue Lt. Ishmael Roig.
The grid was shut down for several hours while crews worked to contain the fire.
“Electricity conducts water, so that would be of harm to our firefighters and the occupants inside the home. It would put a lot of us in danger,” said Roig.
Inside the home, homeowner Laude McDonald and her husband were sleeping, but no one was hurt, and only a portion of the garage was damaged by the flames.
McDonald, who did not want to show her face on camera, recounted the terrifying moments for 7News.
“But it’s kind of scary, because the last time, it happened in the middle of the night, too, and you’re sleeping,” she said. “I mean, my husband got up to get an aspirin. That’s how he was able to see what was going on.”
McDonald said they’ve had issues with the power lines in this neighborhood before.
“They’ve spent months working on that. You would’ve thought that after what happened that they would’ve secured those wires correctly,” said McDonald.
Although grateful for their lives, the owners were left devastated about their cars, because they are limited editions.
“It’s terrible what happened to them. Now they have no transportation. Damage to their house, and just being totally terrorized,” said Longer.
Aerial footage from 7Skyforce showed the severely damaged cars covered in foam with smoke rising from the hotspots.
The charred cars were a Honda and a Limited Edition Infiniti that only had about 2,000 miles on them.
“My pride and joy, it had 2,000 miles on them,” said McDonald.
McDonald and her neighbors are grateful for the firefighters’ swift actions and that no other structures were damaged.
“I’m very grateful. It’s very scary,” said McDonald.
Although crews were able to contain the fire, the department said it’s not a common occurrence for a power line to snap, and FPL will be investigating further.
“This is not a common occurrence. This is not something that happens here every single day. We’re just glad that it didn’t fall on top of somebody and nobody was hurt,” said Roig.
According to FPL, they have restored the power for all customers that were impacted.
What caused the power line to snap remains under investigation.
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