Hurricane shutters hamper efforts to put out house fire, official say

FLORIDA CITY, Fla. – An unoccupied two-story townhouse caught fire early Saturday in Florida City, officials said.

Erika Benitez, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, said the fire started around 7 a.m. at a home in the 900 block of Southwest Sixth Place. Benitez said the home was outfitted with hurricane shutters, which made fighting the fire more difficult. No one was hurt in the blaze, she said.

Fire officials urge residents to remove hurricane shutters from windows once the threat of a major storm has passed.

Investigators are now working to determine what caused the fire, Benitez said.