A veteran Miami Fire Rescue captain was hospitalized early Tuesday after he fell through a roof while battling a blaze at a Little Havana store, officials said.
Firefighters responded to reports of flames at Navarro Discount Store and Pharmacy at Southwest 8th Street and 12th Avenue around 12:30 a.m., Miami Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Joseph Zahralban said.
Officials said 14 units and 44 firefighters responded to the store, and were able to put out the fire within an hour.
But according to Miami Fire Rescue spokesman Lt. Ignatius Carroll, Captain Ray Pampin, a 25-year veteran of the department, was cutting holes in the roof and making sure the fire hadn't spread when he fell nearly 20 feet into the store.
The scary fall caused a "mayday" call to go out, Zahralban said.
"He apparently stepped on some A/C duct work, fell through and that was the initiative that caused the mayday to go out over the radio," Zahralban said.
Pampin, 47, was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center with injuries to his lower back and legs.
He was in stable condition and was expected to be okay, Carroll said.
"He's in a lot of pain right now as a result of this fall," Carroll said. "This is one of those situations that we pray never happens to any firefighters or any public servants, when they get injured in the line of duty."
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
