Fatal Miami-Dade house fire under investigation
MIAMI - Police are investigating a fatal Brownsville fire that left two people dead early Friday morning.
According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, they received word of the fire at NW 19 Avenue and NW 53 Street just after 3 a.m.
When firefighters arrived, the house was engulfed in flames and smoke billowed out of the windows. As fire crews worked to put out the fire, they searched the home and found a man and woman.
Both were pulled from the home and EMTs performed CPR as they were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center.
Despite medical efforts, both succumbed to their injuries, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Miami-Dade police homicide detectives and arson investigators, along with arson investigators with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, have launched an investigation into what started the fire.
A cell phone video shot by a neighbor captured the frantic moments before the fire consumed the house.
"I heard people hitting the wall hard, then someone talking loud," said a neighbor who did not want to be identified. She said that when she looked out the window, she saw flames and called 911 immediately.
Another neighbor, Jorge Marin, said, "It's five of us who lived in the house." He also said he did not know what caused the fire, which, according to Miami-Dade police, may have started before 3 a.m.
"Since two in the morning, I started hearing noises. I wish I would have called the cops earlier," said the Marin.
Another neighbor, visibly affected by the news, said she did not know the victims.
"It's hard for everyone who lives around here," she said.
While Marin was talking to CBS News Miami, he was removed by a Miami-Dade police officer and placed inside one of their units.
Minutes earlier, another person was handcuffed in the area and also taken by police.
Authorities have not released the identities of the victims and said they were still questioning those who were removed from the scene. Police said they are not considered suspects, at least not now.
