Miami

Partial Roof Collapse Damages Coin Laundry at Miami Strip Mall

No injuries were reported as the business was closed at the time

NBC Universal, Inc.

A partial roof collapse damaged a coin laundry in a Miami strip mall early Friday after severe storms and heavy rain swept through the area.

Miami Fire Rescue crews arrived at the scene of the EG2 Coin Laundry, located at 4731 West Flagler Street, after the collapse in the back of the business.

No injuries were reported as the business was closed at the time.

Fire Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll said the strip mall would be closed during the investigation, saying a total of eight businesses have been impacted.

"If this had been during regular work hours, this could have been a lot worse," Carroll said. "Luckily, this happened overnight and there are no injuries reported."

Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez said the collapse was in the northeast part of the business and may have been caused by the rain from strong storms that came through the area.

The owner of the business said he received a call in the middle of the night about the collapse.

"I thought it was a burglary when I first heard it. But it wasn’t, it was worse than that," Elicer Gallardo said. "Through the camera we can see debris and water and then we noticed right away the roof had collapsed."

Gallardo said he didn't know how long it would take to reopen the business, based on the damage.

"A lot of water, about three inches of rain. As a soon as I opened the door the water started coming out," he said. "I don't know the extent of the damage but as far as the roof it’s really bad."

Meanwhile, in Miami Lakes, a family believes their home may have been struck by lightning after they woke up to smoke alarms going off Friday.

The family said there was smoke in the garage so they had firefighters respond.

The firefighters didn't find any obvious damage or clear signs of a lightning strike but said it's possible since the house has been hit by lightning before.

In Broward County, a student was hospitalized after storms caused the awning in front of the main entrance at Broadview Elementary School in North Lauderdale to partially detach from the roof and collapse to the ground, Broward Schools said.

The student had minor injuries and was transported to the hospital as a precaution, the district said.

Contact Us