SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. – Multiple people injured when a gas leak caused an explosion in the boiler room of a penthouse at a Sunny Isles Beach high-rise building are now recovering.
There are still several safety concerns the city and contractors are working to resolve after a gas line explosion sent huge chunks of the high-rise into the air Friday. Crews worked to secure a large concrete slab on the side of the building, but the goal is to get a crane to remove it as soon as possible.
Luciana Cardin and her family were trying to get their belongings out of the Monaco Beach Resort Saturday morning following an explosion Friday at the Chateau Beach residences next door in Sunny Isles Beach. The blast sent debris flying onto the neighboring resort, leading to an evacuation.
"We were freaking out a little bit," Cardin said. "We don't have anything with us. We don't have money. We don't have documents. We don't have even clothes."
Salomon Arougueti said he was out Friday when a gas line blew on the 34th floor of the Chateau Beach residence. The problem, Arougueti said, is some of that debris landed at his hotel next door, the Monaco Beach Resort. When he got back, the building was evacuated for safety reasons.
Arougueti said he missed his 5 a.m. flight back to Argentina because he wasn't able to get escorted into his hotel room for his passport and heart medication until noon Saturday.
Officials and contractors are trying to prevent any further damage to the Chateau property and everything around it.
"Contractor has a crew up there securing loose concrete hanging off building," Clayton Parker said.
For travelers like Arougueti, there are other challenges: flights back to Argentina are all full this weekend. He's now facing extra costs he feels could have been avoided.
Mayor Bud Scholl said the fire marshal was escorting guests into the resort to get valuables. The big concern Saturday was trying to secure the large slab of concrete left hanging 34 floors above busy Collins Avenue.
"The demolition crew wrapped cables around that large slab that's hanging around the building and welded the cables up into the infrastructure of the building to secure the slab," Scholl said.
The city learned Saturday they would need a bigger crane than initially expected. Waiting for an 800-ton crane to arrive from out of state could take days. That means one northbound lane of Collins Avenue will stay closed.
Everyone injured by the blast and debris is now recovering.
"Both the gentlemen that were working on upper floors were injured (and) were actually released this morning, so the burns were not as severe as we originally thought. They were still serious burns because they were second-degree," said Scholl.
The mayor said the firefighters and others injured were treated Friday night. A spokesperson for the Chateau told Local 10 News the unoccupied building was just weeks from completion, but now that timeline will be pushed back.
A city building official told Local 10 News Saturday there is a lot of water damage inside and the state fire marshal's office, which visited Saturday, will be determining what led to the explosion.
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