OPA-LOCKA, FLA. (WSVN) - As several firefighters continued to battle an aggressive junkyard fire, several residents spent much of their Memorial Day concerned about the smoke filling the air.
Dozens of residents lined up along Northwest 135th Street down to Northwest 42nd Avenue to see the massive plume of smoke covering the sky, Monday.
Officials say the fire started at a junkyard near Cairo Lane around 5 p.m.
As smoke covered the skyline, residents are worried over the lasting effects the blaze would bring.
“It’s not good. I feel like it’s all the tires and car parts, gas and oil, all of that is just burning into the air right now,” said Jean Borges, the owner of The Licking.
Borges was watching the towering smoke from inside his restaurant, calling his family over to get a look at it.
“It’s not something small. It doesn’t seem like they’re gonna be able to contain it anytime soon,” said Borges.
It wasn’t just residents in Opa-locka getting a glimpse of smoke in the air. Several people from miles outside of the city were able to spot it.
“I called my friends all over Hialeah, and they see it over there as well,” said Opa-locka resident Carlos Santana.
Santana lives nearby the fire and came over from his home to start streaming the unbelievable scenes online. At the same time, he’s weary about the deteriorating air quality in the area caused by the fire.
“Really bad charcoal. Disgusting flames, it feels gross. It feels like you don’t have a lot of air to go into your lungs and you can’t breathe sometimes. It’s pretty bad,” said Santana.
Air quality wasn’t the only thing in Opa-locka impacted by the fire.
Officials were forced to put a pause on Tri-Rail rides between the Opa-locka station and Metrorail Transfer station. Travelers had to be bussed to prevent trains running on the tracks through an active fire fight.
Meantime, a woman told 7News in Spanish that she has two trucks inside of a neighboring junkyard. She said she’s fearful of what could happen to them if the flames spread to the next yard.
With authorities closing down surrounding roads and diverting traffic away from the fire, others, like Joshua and Carrie Williams, who are visiting from South Dakota, were stunned by the sudden spectacle unfolding right in front of them.
“Just driving by, we are both firefighters from South Dakota. We saw the smoke and had to investigate,” said Joshua.
As the battle continued into Monday evening, everyone was left praying for a good outcome for the crews working tirelessly to get the fire under control.
“It’s gonna be a long night for the firefighters. Hopefully everyone is safe,” said Joshua.
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