Authorities investigate after 3 vehicles catch fire at Miami dealership

MIAMI – City of Miami firefighters were called to a car dealership Tuesday morning after three vehicles caught fire.

Lt. Pete Sanchez, of City of Miami Fire Rescue, said a passerby called 911 around 5:30 a.m. to report the incident at Magic City Auto at 3160 SW Eighth St. in Little Havana.

He said firefighters arrived at the scene to find three vehicles that were completely engulfed in flames.

“It sucks to come to work and for something like this to happen,” a manager at the dealership, identified only as Felipe, said.

According to Sanchez, it took firefighters about 15 minutes to extinguish the flames.

Because the business was closed at the time, crews had to cut through the fence to get closer to the burning cars.

No injuries were reported.

Sanchez said there were about 30 vehicles parked at the dealership, but only three caught fire. He said a fourth vehicle sustained some damage from the heat.

“A type of incident like this can be a lot more dangerous, a lot more challenging. As you see, there’s about 30 vehicles inside this lot,” he said. “The fire can spread rather quickly because of the fuels, the metals, the plastics that are in the vehicles.”

Felipe told Local 10 News that he estimates the damage at around $60,000. He said a Honda Civic and Chevrolet Cruze were among the vehicles damaged.

All of the cars are insured.

“I’m a manager here at the dealer. Really, I’m a Brazilian funk singer,” Felipe said. “This is what I do in my daytime, to pay for my studio time at night, so it is pretty disappointing to know that I can’t, you know, make my bread of the day today so I can be in the studio tomorrow.”

Investigators are now looking through surveillance video, trying to figure out the cause of the fire and determine whether the incident was accidental or a case of arson.


About the Authors:

Trent Kelly is an award-winning multimedia journalist who joined the Local 10 News team in June 2018. Trent is no stranger to Florida. Born in Tampa, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he graduated with honors from the UF College of Journalism and Communications.

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.