Miami-Dade County

Overhead sign catches fire at Miami International Airport. Here’s what we know

An electric sign caught on fire on the Miami International Airport’s departure level.
An electric sign caught on fire on the Miami International Airport’s departure level. Twitter

Passengers catching flights departing from Miami International Airport late Friday morning arrived to find a large sign overhanging one of the airport’s busier roads engulfed in flames, officials said.

Around 11:50 a.m., Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was called to the airport to douse an electric street sign that was ablaze on the departure level, creating a significant amount of smoke, authorities said.

Fire Rescue said the fire began in a trash can and spread to the sign. Greg Chin, an MIA spokesperson, disputed that, saying the sign caught fire. Either way, it was put out in less than 30 minutes.

The outer lanes of the departure level were closed for an hour as a precaution after the fire was out, which caused a traffic slowdown.

By 1:30 p.m., that part of the airport was back to normal, Chin said.

Fire Rescue is looking into whether there were any injuries from the fire.

This story was originally published March 17, 2023 at 3:18 PM.

Devoun Cetoute
Miami Herald
Miami Herald Cops and Breaking News Reporter Devoun Cetoute covers a plethora of Florida topics, from breaking news to crime patterns. He was on the breaking news team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2022. He’s a graduate of the University of Florida, born and raised in Miami-Dade. Theme parks, movies and cars are on his mind in and out of the office.
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