Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews responded to an apartment fire in northwest Miami-Dade early Thursday morning that left one unit heavily damaged and investigators searching for answers about a possible arson. Fire rescue units were dispatched just after 5 a.m. to a one-story apartment building near the 15600 block of Northwest Second Avenue. When crews arrived, they found smoke and flames coming from one of the units with flames shooting through the windows and engulfing the interior of the apartment.
“We are devastated,” said Alberto, the apartment owner. “We weren’t expecting anything like this to happen.” Alberto and his wife Rose said they received a phone call around 5 a.m. alerting them that something was wrong at the property, which they have owned for 11 years. The fire was brought under control with no injuries reported, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Alberto said the tenant who lives in the damaged unit is currently out of the country. He believes the fire may have been intentionally set based on what investigators found at the scene. “There’s gas all over the floors. They poured gas all over the furniture, all over the mattresses, and then they lit it up,” he said. “It’s terrible. Maybe it’s someone randomly - they see the ‘for rent’ sign, they see the window cracked, then they come inside and people are crazy.”
Firefighters quickly deployed hose lines to extinguish the blaze and checked nearby units for any signs of the fire spreading. Video from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue shows the intensity of the flames that engulfed the apartment interior. Shards of glass were left scattered across the ground as Alberto began cleaning up while trying to process what happened to his property.
Investigators remained at the scene throughout the morning working to determine the official cause of the fire. The apartment building is located in northwest Miami-Dade near Northwest Second Avenue, an area that has seen various residential developments over the years. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue has not yet released an official statement regarding the suspected arson or timeline for the investigation’s completion.