A Miami Gardens man who has lived in his home for nearly 60 years escaped a house fire Friday afternoon that destroyed his belongings but left him grateful to be alive. Edward Brown Jr. was preparing to cook when the blaze erupted at his residence, forcing him and neighbors to battle the flames with garden hoses before firefighters arrived.
“That’s all I have right there,” Brown said, surveying the damage to his home. The fire started when Brown went outside to talk with his son, believing he had turned off a burner on his stove. “He said, daddy, what are you cooking in there?” Brown recalled his son asking. “I thought I turned the burner off. When I went to the door, it was too much smoke.”
Brown, his son and neighbor Ronald Rodriguez attempted to extinguish the fire using hoses before professional firefighters could respond to the scene. “He went to the back, and he’s trying to help, he’s trying to put the fire out himself,” Rodriguez said, describing his father’s efforts to assist Brown. The flames tore a giant hole through the roof of the home before firefighters eventually brought the blaze under control.
Despite losing his possessions and the home where he has lived for nearly six decades, Brown maintained his composure throughout the ordeal. “No, I wasn’t really scared, thank God I wasn’t scared,” Brown said. He credited his long-standing relationships in the Miami Gardens community with helping him stay calm during the emergency.
“That’s what kept me under control, other than God, everybody was concerned, and I want to apologize, I didn’t mean to stir up the neighborhood like that,” Brown said. The Red Cross responded to the scene to provide assistance to Brown following the fire that destroyed his longtime residence.