Southwest Miami-Dade explosion leaves 1 dead, 4 injured, including MDSO lieutenant, officials say

One person was killed and four others were injured, including a lieutenant with the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, after an explosion and fire in southwest Miami-Dade on Monday morning.

Officials said that Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews, along with members of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, responded to reports of an explosion at 6100 Southwest 87th Avenue.

The blast was reported just after 10 a.m.

Neighbors shaken by powerful morning blast

Neighbors described hearing a powerful explosion that shook nearby homes Monday morning. "All of a sudden there was a loud boom from behind the house," said Stephanie Galvez, who lives nearby.

 "For a moment the house felt like it was shaking, and we had no idea what was going on." Galvez said she was stunned by how close the blast occurred to her home. "It's crazy that something like that, so close to our home, could be so dangerous. We're lucky the explosion didn't cause any further damage," she said. 

Around 7:30 p.m., the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner arrived at the scene, and just after 9 p.m., Southwest 87th Avenue, which had been closed since the morning, reopened to traffic. 

More than 12 hours after the explosion, investigators remained on scene.

Video reveals damage as investigators probe cause of explosion

Video from Chopper 4 shows the force of the blast was strong enough to bend back an overhang over a fuel pump.

Miami Dade Fire Rescue Chief Ray Jadallah says the facility has underground fuel storage tanks. "There are three vaults.  One was empty. We don't know if there was some work that was being conducted," Jadallah said.

According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Ray Jadallah, the facility is known as "Shop Two," a facility used for fire trucks and other county vehicles to get maintenance.

"From what we understand, when our units arrived, they did find an overhang that was partially destroyed and an active fire coming out from underground," Jadallah said.

More than 40 units, including HazMat and Technical Rescue units, responded to the scene.

Since the incident occurred, the fire has been brought under control and the situation was stabilized, Jadallah said.

"The explosion appeared to have also created a fire and there were some injuries," said Miami Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz.

There was a total of five patients because of the incident – one person was killed, two people were taken to a trauma center, and one person was taken to a hospital. The other person who was injured refused to be transported to the hospital.

Officials have not released the name of the person who was killed.

The Florida state fire marshal was requested to the scene to assist in the investigation to help determine the cause and origin of the explosion, and the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office Homicide Bureau will also be investigating.