Now Levine wonders if the momentum and spirit generated by the village has been squandered: "Overnight the passion of quite a lot of people to solve this problem went up in smoke."

TEMPORARY FIX

She and other Umoja supporters had acknowledged that the wood and card- board shanties never were a permanent solution. "I thought that the plan the Umoja organizers announced this week to move toward yurts and tents was a step in the right direction."

Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones considered trying to shut down the village -- which is in her district -- because she considered it a health and safety hazard. But she backed off after criticism from housing activists. She appointed a community-based task force to work out a solution with Umoja organizers. A town hall meeting had been planned for May 2. Thursday morning, the news of the fire rattled her.

"Thank God nobody was hurt," she said. "This has always been my concern."

Umoja Village was founded by activist Rameau, who strategically selected a piece of public land to seize for homeless people to live on after he became frus- trated with the county's lack of response to the region's affordable housing cri- sis. The fire comes just three days after its six-month anniversary.

The "action," as he calls it, was a response to a Pulitzer Prize-winning Miami Herald series that found the Miami-Dade Housing Agency squandered millions of dollars earmarked for affordable housing units -- most of which were never built.

COMMUNITY RULES

Rameau and the homeless built a community on the lot. They voted on rules, like evicting disruptive residents. They grew collard greens and spinach and cooked their own food. They planted sunflowers. College students donated enough books for a library. Social service agencies offered help -- and have placed about 30 former residents in permanent housing.

On Monday, Rameau announced Umoja was planning to upgrade the shanties by phasing in sturdier, safer yurts designed for refugee camps.

He said on Thursday, he'd still like to build the yurts.

"The spirit of Umoja is still strong," he said. "After we all stopped crying last night, we gathered and gave thanks that no one died. And we all had an incredi- ble moment of clarity that we would fight on despite this incident. This is worth fighting for."

Miami Herald staff writers Andrea Robinson, Erika Beras, Kathleen McGrory and Michael Vasquez contributed to this report.