Thick, black smoke from a raging fire at a Northwest Miami-Dade scrap metal facility could be seen for miles late Thursday morning.
It’s unknown when the fire started at Ferrous Processing & Trading, a scrap metal recycling center, at 3700 NW N River Dr., near Miami International Airport.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the call came in around 11:30 a.m., and upon arrival, crews found a large column of smoke and fire coming from a pile of scrap metal at the facility. Over 45 units, including a hazmat team, battled the blaze and deployed multiple hose lines to work on extinguishing the flames.
Additionally, MDFR said two fire boats arrived to assist in putting out the flames from the water while their ladder units extinguish the fire from overhead.
It burned into the afternoon even after the smoke was gone.
“We have the ladder trucks that are flowing mass to streams. And again, part of the process is actually removing the debris so we can get to the deep-seated parts of it,” said Michael Eng of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. “So a lot of resources are required, multiple hydrants and water sources are necessary to try and extinguish this.”
There are no reported injuries, but MDFR advised that those with respiratory conditions should avoid the area because of the smoke.
Miami International Airport said there are no impacts to air traffic; however, Miami-Dade Transit said on X that the fire may cause some service delays on the Metrorail Orange Line between the Earlington Heights and Airport stations.
Shocked by smoke
“I was like, ‘I hope it doesn’t blow up — knock out the whole building,'” said witness Julian Camejo.
Camejo saw the smoke from miles away, telling CBS News Miami that he had to go over there.
“At times it kinda went down,” he said. “A little while ago, it went up when we were close.”
Evilio Perez came to drop off some scrap metal at the plant, but now he’ll have to wait.
“We have to leave because it’s not gonna happen,” he told CBS News Miami.
Ileana Hernandez told CBS News Miami she came to bring her son lunch at the scrap metal plant, but she couldn’t get in; however, she is just glad no one was hurt.
“He said mom you can’t come in here because there’s a fire. I came back here and while I was parking I could see all the smoke. I could see the situation,” Hernandez said.
