An apartment complex in Miami is being teared down after it went up in flames, officials quick to make the decision over safety concerns. Just over a week ago crews battled the blazed for eight hours, making it Miami’s first 3 alarm fire in 25 years that displaced nearly 50 residents that called the Temple Courts complex home.
The demolition was set to begin at 7 a.m., on Tuesday, officials arrived first on scene at 431 Northwest Third Street to begin the preliminary efforts to bring the building down. The city says the building “poses an imminent risk of collapse”.
“Demolition will begin because of the hazardous materials that is inside the building,” said Kenia Fallat, Director of Communication for the City of Miami.
The historic building was constructed in the 1920s and is built with a wood frame, over the last week the property management company paid for all their displaced residents to stay in a motel, but neither management nor city officials will not allow any of them back into the building to retrieve their personal belongings.
“We have informed the residents that, that building has been deemed unsafe and they no longer are going to be able to go inside the building to pull their belongings out, said Fallat.
Among the residents left without a trace of their lives is Eugenio Muñoz, who lived in apartment 317. The fire was a devastating blow to a man who wanted to change his life.
“I wanted to save $5,000 to fix my immigration papers. I saved $3,500, they said ‘Your apartment is on fire.’ I came back and I lost everything,” he said.
Francisco Murado, who once lived in apartment 314, said he still needs his belongings.
“I just wanted to go inside my apartment to recover some of my stuff. Jewelry, things. The furniture and the rest is lost. But I need my belongings,” he said.
Many residents sharing the same fate as Muñoz and Murado.
The complex was inflamed last Monday, after police say, 73-year-old Juan Francisco Figueroa set it on fire. Figueroa was arrested and charged with intentionally starting the blaze and attempting to murder a maintenance man before he did it. He remains behind bars without bond. The shooting victim’s family identified him as 30-year-old Feder-One Biotte, his family saying he underwent surgery and the bullet was removed from his stomach.
On Tuesday morning, an excavator was seen on the Temple Courts property along with a handful of officials. How long the demolition will take is unclear.
