MIAMI (WSVN) - A massive blaze ripped through a vacant warehouse in Miami’s Little River neighborhood, prompting a swift response from fire rescue.
City of Miami Fire Rescue crews were dispatched to the Little River Building and Home Supply located in the area of Northeast Second Avenue and 78th Street, just after 6 a.m. on Friday.
7News’ Drone Force provided aerial footage of a thick plume of smoke billowing into the air, creating low visibility for drivers in the area.
Firefighters responded to the scene and entered the structure. Crews battled the fierce flames and conducted a thorough search of the property, which was determined to be empty.
Fire officials said the incident was immediately upgraded to a Code One working fire. They later vacated the premises due to concerns about the building’s structural integrity.
Crews then switched a defensive fire attack, which is a firefighting strategy used to suppress a fire from the exterior of a structure when the conditions inside are too extreme.
“About 10 minutes into operations, there were risks and concern of a localized collapse, so we removed our firefighters and transitioned to a defensive strategy, which means that we’re fighting fire from the outside. It was too dangerous, and there were no occupants inside — as I said, it was abandoned — so, for the safety of our firefighters, we fought fire from outside,” said Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez. “It took about two hours to extinguish because of the heavy fire load. There was a lot of wood in there, because it used to be a lumber warehouse and, about two hours later, we were able to extinguish the blaze.”
With the fire raging on, heavy smoke and flames continuously poured from the building, causing its roof to collapse.
On the ground, more fire personnel were dispatched to assist in the fire fight. At one point, crews were seen using three fire engines to douse the flames.
The fire did not spread to neighboring structures and has since been brought under control.
Officials said one firefighter was transported to the hospital with heat exhaustion and a back injury.
Little River Building and Home Supply is a lumbar yard, and according to a Yelp profile , the company offers a line of building materials, hardware and supplies.
7News spoke to Reza Hathayegh, whose family owned the building for decades. Now, years of memories are reduced to ash.
“We saw the smoke and came by, then I saw what was happening there,” said Reza. “We’re really, really heartbroken to see it burn down like that.”
“A lot of memories?” asked 7News’ Reporter Alex Browning.
“A lot of memories. Forty-five years, from the ’80s we were here,” he replied.
Reza said they moved the business down the street two years ago after selling the property.
“They bought it, and they said they were going to put apartment buildings in it and never did anything with it at all. And when we go by here, we see a lot of [unhoused] people going inside there, I guess some are living in it,” he said.
The building is relatively old and had a lot of wood, which fueled the inferno, making it a difficult firefight.
“The building is old, and it’s all wood. A lot of wood structure in there, the roof and everything. It’s an old building,” said Reza.
Officials closed a portion of 77th Street and 72nd Avenue as crews worked to monitor hotspots.
Drivers were advised to avoid the area and proceeded with caution. Residents with respiratory conditions were urged to avoid the outdoors.
The Miami Fire Investigation Unit will work to determine the cause of the fire.
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