Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews continued to work to extinguish a massive 3-alarm fire that broke out at a waste-to-energy plant Sunday.
Over 200 Miami-Dade firefighters responded to the fire shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday at the Miami Dade County Resources Recovery Facility, a renewable energy center, located near Northwest 70 Street and Northwest 97 Avenue.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Ray Jadallah said there are a total of 11 buildings at the facility and four caught fire.
Fires at two of the buildings were brought under control Sunday but crews were working Monday to put out the other two.
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When fire crews arrived, they found heavy black smoke and fire coming from the facility, which could be seen from miles away.
The facility was open at the time but all employees safely evacuated and there were no injuries, Jadallah said.
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Jadallah said the crews encountered a number of challenges while trying to get the fire under control.
"The buildings are basically sheet metal all around, the walls, the roof. The scaffolding and catwalks are also made of metal so when we first arrived those areas we’d typically walk on to access certain areas were warped,” Jadallah said.
The Miami-Dade County Resources Recovery Facility is owned by the county and operated by Covanta Energy. More than 1 million tons of waste is processed per year at the site, according to the county's website.
“We’re looking at approximately two football fields worth of garbage and trash,” Jadallah said.
Units remained at the scene late Sunday and into Monday as firefighters continued to conduct a defensive attack in order to extinguish the fire and place it under control.
Jadallah said the fire may have originated from a conveyor belt.
A Doral resident, Diego Godoy, said the situation was concerning for the community.
"It’s concerning. A hazard for residents living in Doral due to the fact that you don't know if that could explode one day," Godoy said. "Right now, it didn’t happen, but we got houses, schools, everything is near this place so it could be hazardous for the residents.”
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava issued the following statement to alert the community:
"I’ve been fully briefed by our fire, police, and solid waste staff on the fire occurring at the county waste-to-energy facility. Both our Miami-Dade Fire and Miami-Dade Police staff have responded to the blaze and will continue to monitor the situation over the coming hours."
"Our fire and rescue staff are still on site responding to the blaze as well as conducting ongoing air quality testing. All tests have come back clear at this time," Levine Cava said at a news conference Sunday night. "There is no danger to the particulates or matter in the smoke."
Levine Cava said out of an abundance of caution they were advising residents in the area to stay indoors and close windows, and told anyone who didn't need to be in the area to avoid it if possible.
"The area around the plant is experiencing highly smoky conditions potentially impacting visibility," she said.
The renewable energy facility has been the topic of controversy between the county and some Doral residents who have been calling for the plant to shut down for more than a year.
"This is an unsafe way to manage waste, not just from what we see today, but in the day-to-day, the community in Doral has been experiencing all kinds of effects," attorney Nestor Perez said.
Levine Cava said the county will continue to monitor the situation over the next few days.
