Firefighters were responding to a townhouse fire in northwest Miami-Dade Tuesday afternoon.
The fire broke out at the home at Northwest 167th Street and Northwest 57th Avenue sometime before 1 p.m.
"Fire crews came and they saw extensive flames, smoke billowing out of the back of one of these townhomes, a second alarm assignment was dispatched because as you can see these townhomes are adjoining, so the last thing we wanted was for the fire to spread to the other townhomes," said Lt. Arnold Piedrahita, spokesman for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Miami-Dade Fire Department spokesman Michelle Fayed said it was a second alarm fire and 23 units were on the scene.
The blaze started in the backyard of the home and quickly spread through the house, destoying Angie Douglas' belongings.
"We were actually in the process of moving and I came home to this," she said. "Everything destroyed."
Douglas said no one was home at the time of the fire. Her 5-year-old rottweiler named Beast, who was trapped between the flames and the backyard fence, managed to wedge himself between the fence and a shed. He survived the fire.
"Unfortunately, the two adjoining townhomes did suffer extensive smoke damage," Piedrahita said.
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Authorities were investigating whether the fire was intentional or an accident.
"It's definelty suspicious, the fact that we both left the property and it happened when we left," Douglas said.
