Loved ones said they are still searching for answers after a devastating house fire in Miami Gardens claimed the lives of a couple and their two miniature poodles early Wednesday morning.
Rhonda Spencer, a 65-year-old supervisor with the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department and her husband of 20 years, Timothy Fordham, died in the fire that engulfed their home near Hard Rock Stadium at Northwest 20th Avenue and 185th Terrace around 3:30 a.m. The couple’s beloved dogs, a male and female poodle aged 4 and 5, also perished in the flames.
The sole survivor, their nephew Jamonjamin Williams, said the ceiling collapsed on him during the fire. He recounted that a neighbor told him he was found on the roof, though he’s unsure how he got there. Williams said he called out for his aunt and uncle but could not find them in the chaos.
Witness accounts add to mystery
One neighbor told CBS News Miami that he reported hearing gunshots to Miami Gardens police before the blaze erupted.
CBS News Miami reached out to the department for comment but has not yet received a response.
Roberts said neighbors also described a series of loud, strange noises just before the fire.
“Neighbors heard like a pop, then they heard a first explosion, and after that explosion they heard another pop and a big explosion,” she said. “We don’t know what that pop was.”
Investigators with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the cause of the fire is still unknown. Florida City Gas confirmed the home did not have gas service.
A sister’s grief and a legacy of kindness
CBS News Miami spoke with Rhonda Spencer’s sister, Levaris Roberts, who expressed her deep sorrow and confusion over the incident.
“We are just trying to find out what happened and what caused it,” Roberts said. “We don’t know what caused it. We don’t know how the house blew up. There are investigators trying to figure that out.”
Roberts remembered her sister as a woman of deep compassion and generosity.
“That’s my sister,” she said. “She helped everybody. This girl, if she saw somebody who needed help, she would give them help. She would go to church all day and stay in church. She never let our mom and dad stay in a nursing home because she wanted to take care of them at home. I want answers as to what happened.”
Investigation continues amid rubble
By Thursday afternoon, investigators from both Miami Gardens Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue had returned to the scene. Yellow crime scene tape still surrounded the charred remains of the home.
From the air, CBS News Miami’s drone showed the destruction: the house reduced to rubble, resembling a war zone.
