Questions remain over fatal fire training in Miami-Dade, 21 years after similar tragedy

The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue training exercise that claimed the life of a firefighter's son wasn’t the first of its kind to go wrong or end in tragedy. 

Last week’s fatal mishap has led to questions about what exactly happened that caused the death of 28-year-old Fabian Camero, and whether the proper regulations were being followed.

State records show Fabian Camero victim was a certified EMT, and officials with American Medical Response confirmed Tuesday that he was an employee.

"American Medical Response (AMR) is deeply saddened by the recent death of one of our EMTs, Fabian Camero. His death was unrelated to his employment with AMR Miami Dade. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and coworkers during this time," AMR said in a statement.

Fabian Camero was not employed by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

The Virginia Gardens building, located on Northwest 36th Street and 66th Avenue, where the training was taking place on June 21 had been used by the county to do fire department drills for over a month, according to Mayor Spencer Deno. 

He said previous drills were search and rescue simulations, and the building owner, who NBC 6 has been unable to reach, did not give permission for a controlled burn. Deno described the deadly fire as accidental and not part of that day’s training. 

Live fire trainings are heavily regulated, with pages of protocols laid out by the state and county, including the use of thermal imaging cameras during training that involves structures and a requirement to immediately stop when there are indications that the combustible nature of the environment represents a potential hazard, according to a copy of Miami-Dade’s live fire training procedures. Those procedures were provided to NBC 6 by a department employee who asked not to be identified. 

One thing is clear: fighting fires is a dangerous job, even when it’s done as a practice. 

In August 2003, Wayne Mitchell, a 37-year-old recruit, was killed during a live fire training at Port Everglades. 

“Today has to be the most difficult day of my career,” former Fire Chief Tony Bared said at the time. “Firefighting is an extremely dangerous profession, and Wayne was doing what he loved the most.”

Mitchell was one of five recruits who went in along with instructors. He was the only one who didn’t make it out. 

According to a lawsuit filed by his widow, Mitchell was burned, suffered heat exhaustion, became disoriented and collapsed in the fire simulator. 

“By the time they got outside and did a headcount, it was determined firefighter Mitchell was not there,” attorney Sam Spatzer said. “Apparently, this area where these fires were being started up were not being vented between evolutions. So you had a build up of heat.”

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue now has its own training facility at its headquarters in Doral. That complex is located just three miles from the building where Friday's deadly training took place. 

Local leaders are pushing for an investigation.

“I think a thoughtful, careful, thorough investigation is going to be carried out, probably by more than one agency,” Spatzer said.