Massive Miami Fire Kills One Person, Destroys Home & Church
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Firefighters worked for several hours Friday night to put out a massive fire at 219 NW 14 Terrace.
Miami Fire Department spokesperson Ignatius Carroll told CBS4's Maggie Newland one person died in the fire.
Officials said the fire started in what appears to be a single family home that was converted and divided into a duplex.
A rescue crew that was transporting a patient reported spotting the flames and stopped to help out an elderly who lived inside of the house.
"We began a very aggressive fire attack trying to control the fire," said Carroll. "Crews had to pull out and start a defensive attack because ceilings and roofs started to collapse. The intense heat made its way to a church."
"There was a small explosion and then there was fire everywhere and people started running from inside the church," said Andrew Brown, who saw the fire.
As firefighters started fighting the fire they had to back out because of the intensity of the fire.
"They told people to move their cars off the street in case of an explosion then to move their cars farther away so we had to move our cars twice," said Brittannie Peterson.
After firefighters were able to put the fire out they found one deceased person in the back portion of the duplex.
Firefighters were still extensively searching the debris as of late Friday night.
The gender and the name of the person deceased were not immediately available.
The cause of the fire is not yet determined.
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