Man found dead after fire erupts inside southwest Miami-Dade County home

Miami-Dade police are investigating after a man was found dead inside a home Tuesday morning after a fire erupted inside, authorities confirmed to Local 10 News. According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, firefighters extinguished the fire at the single-story home in the 15800 block of Southwest 143rd Court. Miami-Dade police Detective Luis Sierra confirmed that the victim was found dead during an inspection of the residence. The victim’s son identified him as 68-year-old Kenneth Mark Pirraglia. “I love my father with all my heart,” he said. “My father will always be my hero.” Anthony Pirraglia said he got a call Tuesday morning while working his overnight security job and was told there had been a fire at his home and that he needed to come speak to police.
WPLG-TV ABC 10 Miami

Car crashes into Haines City home, sparks fire

A car crashed into a home in Haines City before bursting into flames and catching the house on fire, according to the city's fire department. The driver responsible is now facing charges, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said. It happened just before 2 a.m. Saturday at a home near the intersection of Kalogridas and Miss Helen roads. Deputies say 19-year-old Raciel Martinez, the driver of a red Chevy Camaro, was speeding eastbound on Johnson Avenue East and passed a marked patrol vehicle going the opposite direction, revving the engine and accelerating more as he did. The deputy said in the affidavit they turned their car around to follow the Camaro but kept their emergency lights off. From there, the officer said he saw the Camaro turn left onto Kalgridis Road at a rate of speed that made the tires skid and screech.
WTSP-TV CBS 10 St. Petersburg

’Perfect and entire ruin’: How Tallahassee survived after 1843 inferno

PHOTOS: It’s 5 p.m. on May 25, 1843, in Tallahassee. For the next three hours, the city would be engulfed in flames. Blocks of downtown were turned to ash as a fire broke out on the grounds of the Washington Hall Hotel, east of the Capitol. For $2 a day, the hotel provided room and board for guests during Florida’s territorial period (1822–1845) and served as a place for civic and religious activities. The hotel fire spread north, claiming stores, a blacksmith, numerous homes, offices and other businesses, including those owned by Gov. Richard Keith Call. The courthouse caught fire multiple times but was spared by alert citizens who extinguished the flames. The wooden buildings of the Planter's Hotel, Dorsey’s Auction Room, Perkins Drugstore and the Log Cabin shoe maker’s shop were burned to the ground.
Tallahassee Democrat - Metered Site

Discarded cigarette leads to massive fire at northwest Miami-Dade County home

VIDEO: Eight people, including two children, were displaced from their home in northwest Miami-Dade Sunday after a massive fire broke out. Helmet camera video from Miami-Dade firefighters shows flames fully engulfing the back of the home near Northwest 30th Street and 100th Avenue. First responders confirmed that the fire erupted just before 2 p.m. Sunday. “A little overwhelmed, a little stressed out, and honestly, going through a lot of emotions that I don’t know how to deal with,” Francisco Diaz, who lives at the home, said. Diaz, 35, lives in the back portion of the home and explained to Local 10 News how the fire started. “I was walking the dogs, and I flicked my cigarette into the yard, and I walked to the front, and all of the sudden, I see fire,” he said. Diaz said he heard a “pop,” and suddenly that fire quickly spread to items in the backyard and to his back bedroom.
WPLG-TV ABC 10 Miami

14 displaced after fire ignites apartment building in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood

VIDEO: Fierce flames forced more than a dozen residents out of an apartment building in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. City of Miami Fire Rescue units responded to multiple calls of a fire at an apartment complex along the 900 block of Southwest Seventh Street, in the Riverview subdivision, just after 3 a.m. Saturday. Crews arrived to find the three-story, six-unit structure with heavy smoke and flames showing on the second and third floors. “Rather quickly, they made an initial fire attack, and during the search, they encountered that the first floor was actually unoccupied — some of the windows were boarded up — so, initially it was thought that the building was unoccupied,” said Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez, “but then, after further investigation, they found that there were residents on the second and third floors.”
WSVN-TV FOX 7 Miami

Investigation underway after electrical fire at Bonita Springs home

An investigation is underway after a house fire in Bonita Springs Sunday morning. Firefighters responded to a home showing flames due to an accidental electrical fire at 11405 Longfellow Lane. "Our crews arrived on scene initially. They had a pretty long lay back there with the hose line, so they knocked it down with the fire extinguisher and then were able to get more hose back there," Battalion Chief Greg Harrel with the Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue District said. The fire reportedly started from a faulty water heater. Heavy smoke was inside, but damage was limited to the kitchen area, a closet, and a small bathroom. According to BSFD, the homeowner suffered a minor injury to his arm while trying to put the fire out. "He broke a window to put a garden hose in to put some of the flames out," BSFD Battalion Chief Greg Harrel said.
WBBH-TV NBC 2 Fort Myers