Rubble from Surfside condo brought to grassy field in Miami-Dade

Among the concrete are clothes and other personal belongings

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Some of the debris from the collapsed Surfside condo is being brought to a warehouse so engineers can test the concrete and figure out why the building came crashing down.

But not all of it is useful.

That’s presumably why much of it is being dumped in a grassy field 10 miles away from the site of the Champlain Towers South.

Sky 10 video from Wednesday morning showed an excavator sitting on top of a huge pile of rubble near the intersection of I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike in Northwest Miami-Dade.

Dump trucks in groups of four, followed by a police escort, bring the debris to the grassy field near the Golden Glades Interchange.

The Florida Department of Transportation brought in extra personnel to handle the debris removal.

Four badly damaged cars are sitting a few yards away.

The pile is mostly concrete, cinderblocks and steel rebar. But it heartbreakingly also includes clothes and other personal belongings from the residents of the condo.

Police haven’t said why they’re bringing the debris here, but it’s possible it’s just to get it out of the way until it can be disposed of at a later time.

Police have also not disclosed the location of the warehouse where they’re storing the other concrete debris for analysis.

“There are detectives on the scene, engineers. They’re loading the trucks. It’s going to a ... secure site.” Miami-Dade County Police Director Freddy Ramirez said. “When it gets there it’s being cataloged and placed in certain areas.”


About the Authors:

Liane Morejon is an Emmy-winning reporter who joined the Local 10 News family in January 2010. Born and raised in Coral Gables, Liane has a unique perspective on covering news in her own backyard.