Around 150 firefighters from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue still fighting huge fire more than a day after it broke out at a waste-to-energy plant
The mayor of Miami-Dade County said Monday that fire crews were “working nonstop” to put out a huge fire that broke out at a waste-to-energy plant in Doral more than a day ago.
More than 24 hours after the fire started at the Miami-Dade County Resources Recovery Facility, which is a center for renewable energy near Northwest 70 Street and Northwest 97 Avenue, around 150 firefighters were still working to put it out on Monday.
At a Tuesday afternoon news conference, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava, told reporters, “They are doing everything they can as quickly as they can to put out the fire.”
Ray Jadallah, the chief of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, said that of the 11 buildings at the facility, four caught fire and two were still burning on Tuesday.
“We’re pretty much down to just two buildings that are on fire. These two are very hard to do, “Jadallah said. “Two walls of one building are starting to fall in, making it impossible for us to get inside. We can’t get to the second building to get fire trucks or hose lines because the metal is warping and it’s about to fall down.”
Levine Cava said that crews are checking the air quality and that the EPA was coming because they asked them to.
“All of the tests we are running have turned out to be fine. There’s nothing dangerous about the smoke, “Levine Cava said.
Jadallah said that crews have been sent two miles downwind to make sure it’s safe. So far, there have been no readings of dangerous materials.
The mayor said that the area around the plant was still smokey, so people who didn’t have to be there were told to stay away if they could.
Residents have also been told to stay inside if they can and to close their windows.
Jadallah said that they think the fire started on a conveyor belt, but they are still looking at surveillance video.
Levine Cava said that they are still figuring out the full effect on trash pickup, but that trash collection is being rerouted so that there won’t be any delays.
There have been no injuries to firefighters, but officials say they don’t know how long it will take to put out the fire.
“We’re still working on this fire, and I know that a lot of people are wondering how long it will last. We’re still not there yet, but we’ll be able to reassess things in the morning and come up with an answer,” Jadallah said.
