Suspected arson being investigated in Sweetwater trailer park soon to be razed
A fire broke out Tuesday night at a trailer in Sweetwater’s Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park, where residents are fighting a mass eviction. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office confirmed that it’s being investigated as a possible act of arson.
At 11:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to a trailer fire in the 11200 block of Northwest First Terrace, and firefighters were able to extinguish the flames. No injuries were reported, but authorities on the scene had reason to suspect the fire had been started intentionally, according to the Sheriff’s Office, whose Arson Unit is investigating the case.
Martha Torres, who lives with her four children and three grandchildren in the trailer next door to the one that went up in flames, said that before the fire was put out, she feared it might spread.
“We were very scared,” she said Wednesday, adding that she and her family were still concerned about the effects of the smoke.
The incident came a day after hundreds of residents defied an order to vacate issued by the park’s owner, CREI Holdings. In November, the company alerted home owners that they had until May 19 to leave the park. CREI Holdings plans to build a multifamily housing complex where the mobile homes currently stand.
Most of the park’s home owners accepted CREI Holdings’ buyout offers — $14,000 to leave by Jan. 31, $7,000 by April and $3,000 by May — and left their trailers. But 185 trailer owners remained as of Monday, vowing to stay in their homes as they await a ruling in the wrongful eviction class-action lawsuit they’ve filed against CREI Holdings.
They’re hoping for more money and additional time to find somewhere else to live, saying that the ownership’s buyout offers were insufficient, given that some paid as much as $160,000 for their trailers. They also point to the high cost of living in Miami, one of the country’s least affordable metro areas for renters.
Tuesday’s conflagration is the second such trailer fire reported in Li’l Abner since February, following the first mass exodus of park residents.
This story was produced with financial support from supporters including The Green Family Foundation Trust and Ken O’Keefe, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
