HIALEAH, Fla. – After Miami-Dade firefighters were fighting a massive fire on Tuesday afternoon at a junkyard in Hialeah, neighboring businesses and residents are still trying to sort through the aftermath and damage that it caused.
Local 10 News’ Andrew Perez spoke with local businesses and residents who were affected by the fire.
Violet Macias, an employee with Distinctive Motorsports, told Local 10 News that the smoke was blowing right toward her shop.
“It just started to get really hot. Like you could actually feel the heat--it was right on top of you,” Macias said. “So, you feel the heat, the flame and we just started running out of here.”
Another neighboring business, Mejia auto parts, was also severely damaged as a result of the fire.
Firefighters responded to Rastro Coco’s Auto Parts at 5171 E. 10 Ct.
“Everybody’s safe, that’s priority number one-- life safety,” said Hialeah Fire Department Deputy Chief Karl Odin. “Then after that, the big challenge is really it’s such a large heavy fire.”
Local 10′s tower camera in Pembroke Park spotted the fire about 30 minutes north.
Surveillance video sent to Local 10 News showed flames bursting in the junkyard and seconds later, thick smoke bellowing.
Reports of the smoke were seen from Miami as crews were able to put it out, but officials are trying to piece together what caused it to begin with.
“When you have occupancies like these there’s welding going on, there’s leftover fluids like oil gasoline and diesel but right now it would be total speculation as to what started the fire, said Odin.
Records show dispatch sent about 25 trucks from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to assist the commercial property.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Local 10 News Managing Editor Alissa Gross Merlo contributed to this report.
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