Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is among leaders who are pushing for an investigation after a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue training exercise left a firefighter's son dead.
The 28-year-old victim, whose identity has not been released, was hospitalized as crews battled the third-alarm fire at a building near Miami International Airport Friday morning. He died from his injuries on Saturday.
On Sunday, Levine Cava told NBC6 that she is devastated and is determined to get answers.
"We have to understand exactly what happened which requires a full investigation, which I've requested because this should not have happened and its a great tragedy for the family, its a great tragedy for our fire rescue team and for the whole community," she said.
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Authorities said the victim was a relative of a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighter and was not an employee of Miami-Dade County. Firefighter Francisco Camero confirmed to NBC6 on Sunday that his son was the victim who died.
NBC6 sources with direct knowledge of the training said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was in the building with a live fire. The exercise reportedly included Miami-Dade Fire personnel and a group of international firefighters.
Arson detectives and the Florida State Fire Marshall are investigating the incident, Miami-Dade Police said in a statement. Miami-Dade's Chief of Public Safety is also leading an internal review.
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"Well it's going to be independent, right, so we need to make sure that we can speak to everybody who was on the scene as well as those who were involved in putting the problem together," Levine Cava added. "Obviously, the state is also involved which is appropriate and we will get to the bottom of this."
Her response came after releasing a similar statement on Saturday, before the victim died from his injuries.
"I was deeply saddened to learn about an accident that took place during a training exercise with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel," Levine Cava stated on Saturday. "I have asked our Chief of Public Safety to lead a full investigation into the events that took place yesterday along with a comprehensive review of protocols and practices – to ensure we do everything possible to prevent an incident like this in the future, to keep our firefighters and first responders safe."
The fire broke out Friday around 10:30 a.m. at the three-story building in the 6500 block of Northwest 36th Street across the street from the airport in Virginia Gardens.
Aerial footage from Chopper 6 showed smoke coming out of the building as multiple Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews responded, using ladders to get to the roof and smashing windows to get inside.
More than 30 rescue vehicles responded to the scene, including engine trucks, ambulances and others.
Miami-Dade County Chief of Public Safety James Reyes also reacted to the incident in statement.
"We are saddened to learn of an unfortunate accident at a training exercise that included Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel. We are working closely with the Miami-Dade Police Department to complete a full investigation to understand the chain of events and what must be addressed to ensure all trainings are as safe as possible," Reyes said. "We will work with the Fire Chief to also complete a comprehensive audit of protocols and practices to ensure no incident like this happens in the future."
Jimmy Patronis, Florida's Chief Financial Officer and the state's Fire Marshal, posted about the incident on X.
"Terrible situation in Miami today. I’ve been in touch with local officials and fire investigators from my office are en route to the scene to assist @MiamiDadeFire with the fire investigation," Patronis posted. "Please join me in praying for those injured in this unfortunate incident."
Patronis' communications director also released a statement on the fire.
"This fire investigation is open and ongoing at this time. The DFS (Department of Financial Services) investigation will focus solely on the cause of the fire incident," the statement read. "Any details regarding injuries should be directed to the local authorities."
Check back with NBC6 for updates.
