Edward Brown Jr., a longtime Miami Gardens resident and retired teacher, watched flames destroy the home where he had lived for more than 50 years after a cooking accident Friday evening. Brown said he had been frying fish and thought he had turned off the burner before going outside to talk with his son. “Well, I thought I had turned the burner off, but when I went to the door, there was too much smoke,” Brown said.
Video from Sky 10 showed heavy smoke pouring from the home as fire ripped through the property, eventually tearing a giant hole through the roof. Brown’s son alerted him to the danger when he asked about what was cooking inside the house. “He said, daddy, what are you cooking in there?” Brown recalled his son saying. The fire started shortly after Brown had finished cooking and stepped outside.
Brown, his son and neighbor Ronald Rodriguez attempted to control the flames with garden hoses before firefighters arrived at the scene. “He went to the back, and he’s trying to help, he’s trying to put the fire out himself,” Rodriguez said about his father’s efforts to assist Brown. The chaotic scene temporarily shut down the street as crews worked to extinguish the blaze and neighbors gathered nearby to watch.
Despite losing everything he owned in the fire, Brown remained calm throughout the ordeal and expressed gratitude for surviving the incident. “No, I wasn’t really scared, thank God I wasn’t scared,” Brown said. He also apologized to his neighbors for the disruption the fire caused in the community where he has lived for nearly 60 years. “Everybody was concerned, and I want to apologize to them,” Brown said. “I didn’t mean to disturb the neighborhood like this.”
The Red Cross responded to the scene to provide assistance to Brown, who currently has no possessions remaining from the fire. “I don’t have anything right now,” Brown said as he embraced friends and family while surveying the aftermath. “That’s all I have right there,” he added, referring to the destroyed structure. Brown expressed appreciation for the support from his family and community members who surrounded him during the crisis.
Brown will stay with friends and family while he determines his next steps regarding the destroyed property. The retired teacher, known in the community as “Mr. Brown,” said the support from neighbors and loved ones helped him maintain composure during the emergency. “That’s what kept me under control, other than God, everybody was concerned,” Brown said. Firefighters successfully extinguished the blaze, though the home sustained extensive damage throughout the structure.