CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Two vehicles were destroyed in a fire Friday morning outside a home in Coral Gables.
According to Coral Gables Fire Rescue Lt. Ishmael Roig, the fire department was notified about the blaze right before 6 a.m. and responded to the home in the 1800 block of Ferdinand Street.
“I was waking up at that time to go to the bathroom and I saw flames on the house on the corner,” one neighbor told Local 10 News. “So the police came and everyone had to go out on this block.”
Roig said crews arrived to find two vehicles on fire with a power line lying on top of both of them.
Video below courtesy of Coral Gables Fire Rescue:
He said the FPL power grid was immediately shut down to save the home, as the flames were already spreading to the house when firefighters arrived.
“We had our battalion chief on duty realize the gravity of the situation, and as soon as he saw crews extending their hose lines to put water on it, he said, ‘Hold on a second. Let’s go ahead and shut down the FPL power grid so we can fight that fire and save that house,’” Roig said.
According to Roig, the residents of the home were already safely outside when crews arrived.
He said the fire department and FPL are both conducting an investigation into what caused the power line to fall.
As of Friday morning, about 1,400 homes were without power in the area.