NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A fire broke out at a home in Northwest Miami-Dade leaving an elderly man hospitalized and a family displaced.
Fifteen Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the home located on Northwest 101st Street and 35th Avenue, at around 5:45 a.m. on Thursday.
About 15 minutes earlier, video from a neighbor’s Ring camera showed flames and thick gray smoke billowing from the home after the second-alarm blaze ignited.
“I saw my neighbor’s house engulfed in smoke,” said Romney, a neighbor who woke up to his neighbors’ screams.
7News cameras captured firefighters walking in and out of the home surveying the damage, as well as significant soot and smoke damage on the roof and front of the house.
“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see. My eyes were burning,” said 17-year-old Peyton Hernandez, who lived in the home with her father and grandfather.
She said her family woke up to the smell of smoke and tried to put out the flames themselves at first.
“My grandfather, he tried to put it out and he ended up passing out, and he has some burns,” Hernandez said.
Anita Campbell, a neighbor who called 911 after seeing the smoke, was heartbroken to see all of this happen to people she sees as her second family.
“He was trying to save his house. So when the fire rescue guys got out of the fire truck, I kept telling them, Please save Granddad. Granddad is in the house,’ because he’s a granddad to all of us,” said Campbell.
Firefighters said the fire started in the home’s garage.
“First units arrived; they encountered heavy smoke in the front of the house, so we immediately deployed another unit inside to check for the victim,” said Sergio Llorella, MDFR Chief Fire Officer. “They found the victim, and they brought him outside.”
According to officials, Hernandez’s grandfather was safely evacuated by firefighters and transported to a nearby hospital, where he is being treated for burns.
It took crews about two hours to knock down the flames. The family’s dog and one of their cats made it out safely, while their other two cats were killed.
“Ms. P., y’all remember that name, Ms. P., she was very special to me,” said Earl Gathers, who lost his home in the fire.
“I was so scared. I don’t understand. My animals, they mean a lot to me,” Hernandez said, emotionally.
Officials are investigating the cause of the fire.
Hernandez and her family say they have a long road of recovery ahead.
She started a GoFundMe page for her and her family. If you would like to donate, click here.
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