MIAMI (WSVN) - Police have Baker Acted a man connected to multiple fires in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood.
City of Miami Police and Fire Rescue units first responded to a recycling bin set on fire along Southwest Sixth Court and Fifth Street, just before 4 a.m., Monday.
7News cameras captured the bin up in flames just a few feet away from a vehicle.
A nearby dumpster was also found on fire in the area of Southwest Seventh Street and Sixth Avenue.
“I went out onto the street,” said one witness in Spanish. “There was a fire here. I got scared, quickly thinking it was something bad, and they had set fire here to the trash. That was everything, and I was worried, but the police came quickly and took care of the problem, but I was very scared.”
Over by a group of apartments on Southwest Fourth Street and Seventh Avenue, charred wood and a pile of trash are all that was left of what used to be a dumpster.
A witness who recorded the fire outside of his home spoke about what he saw.
“I felt the heat,” said Al Arcia, who was holding his dog Mikey.
The video shows a wooden fence on fire, just feet from an apartment building.
“Mikey was going crazy,” Arcia continued. “I got Mikey. I got a picture of me and my mom. I took some cash, I got my keys and I was ready to go. I thought it was gonna blow up ’cause the transformer was going on, the propane was there, maybe a car could’ve been parked here and caught fire.”
Firefighters had their hands full for much of the early morning as they put out 10 separate fires in a three-block radius.
“As crews were extinguishing that fire, one of the fire trucks was leaving the scene and they noticed another fire just a block away,” said Miami Fire Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll. “Moments later, we received another call.”
As 7News cameras were rolling near Southwest Eighth Street, an officer took off running after a man they called a person of interest.
“This could’ve been a lot worse,” Carroll said. “Luckily, somebody saw something. They said something to us, and we were able to investigate further with the individual that we’re going to speak with later today.”
Police detained the man while they wait to review surveillance video and Baker Acted him.
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