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#Post#: 150--------------------------------------------------
SUSPICIOUS FIRES IN MIAMI BEACH FLORIDA
By: wolfie Date: February 14, 2011, 1:09 pm
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Miami Beach
Third Miami Beach fire in four days raises questions
Miami Beach investigators are looking into whether three fires
in less than a week may be linked.
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BY DAVID SMILEY
DSMILEY@MIAMIHERALD.COM
Less than a week after dousing a fire that erupted in an
abandoned Miami Beach building, firefighters returned to the
Collins Park neighborhood early Monday morning to put out yet
another blaze.
Officials are also investigating another fire that burned a
pagoda on the city’s boardwalk near 34th Street over the
weekend.
No one was hurt in the fires, according to Assistant Fire Chief
Javier Otero.
But both Collins Park fires erupted in buildings that are
considered “contributing structures” to the city’s Museum
Historic District, leading to questions about whether someone
intentionally burned down two of the city’s beloved Art Deco
buildings.
“I am concerned that it could be arson,” said Mayor Matti
Herrera Bower.
Otero said calls about the fire at the Collins Plaza Hotel, 326
20th St. came in just after midnight. Firefighters at first
tried to douse the building from the inside, he said, but were
forced out due to the instability of the building and the
intensity of the blaze. The fire was under control and out by
2:30 a.m., he said.
Monday’s fire came less than five days after an abandoned
building at 430 21st St. went up in flames, and city officials,
investigators and property owners want to know if there is a
connection between the two .
“We’re definitely paying a lot of attention,” Otero said. “It’s
two major fires in less than a week, and a block away from each
other. We’re asking a lot of questions.”
Otero said investigators have not labeled either fire
“suspicious” but both blazes were uncommonly intense, and in
both incidents the roof of the building collapsed quickly -
possibly indicating the fires began on the upper floors.
Otero said a standard investigation is underway in both cases,
and results could take up to three months.
City Manager Jorge Gonzalez called the fires “suspiciously
similar” and said he is meeting with Fire Chief Eric Yuhr Monday
afternoon.
Gonzalez also said city staff are looking into a fire that
sparked beneath a pagoda on the city’s boardwalk over the
weekend. He said that fire was small in comparison to the two
building fires, but is still a concern.
Meanwhile, city officials were already planning for a meeting
this Friday about how to protect the city’s historic buildings
from “demolition by neglect.”
Bower, who called the meeting after Wednesday’s fire, said she
is concerned that the buildings - who were owned by different
groups - may have been allowed to fall into disrepair in order
to skirt regulations that protect buildings that contribute to a
historic district.
“I don't want to make accusations but I’m looking into forcing
whoever owns those buildings to take care of them,” she said.
Read more:
HTML http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/14/2066245/second-miami-beach-fire-in-four.html#ixzz1Dxh1jokE
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