Residents evacuate Hialeah apartment building after it partially collapsed, firefighters say
More than a dozen tenants at a two-story apartment building in Hialeah were told not to enter their homes indefinitely after part of the structure collapsed Monday morning, firefighters said.
There were no injuries reported in the 15 residential units located at 2350 Palm Avenue, but the building — now deemed unsafe by authorities — was evacuated as officials inspect a damaged walkway, Hialeah fire spokesman David Rodriguez told el Nuevo Herald.
Fire crews arrived at the building, built in 1958, at around 10 a.m., Rodriguez told the Miami Herald. There they discovered that pieces of cement and rebar had fallen from the bottom of the second floor walkway to the first one.
“If someone would have been there, things might have been much worse,” Rodriguez said. “Thank God nobody was there.”
It wasn’t immediately known how many people were home when the collapse occurred nor when they would be allowed to return.
The Red Cross is assisting the affected families with vouchers and transportation to a hotel, the office of Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo told the Herald.
Mariel Campos, a tenant at the apartment, said she was taking a shower when she felt the building vibrate.
“I went running to see what was happening and we couldn’t open the door, it was blocked with debris,” the 32-year-old woman said.
Campos said she’s concerned that she won’t be allowed to retrieve any belongings from her home, including her 8-year-old daughter’s school uniform.
“I left her with a friend who lives nearby because if she sees how the building looks now she will be shocked,” Campos said.
María Magdalena Hernández, a 61-year-old tenant, said that she had gone shopping with a neighbor just minutes before the collapse.
Hernández added that she feels distressed because nobody told her where she would sleep with her disabled daughter Monday night.
According to Jorge Alvarino, who identified himself as the owner of the apartment building, the city gave him permission Monday to demolish the rest of the walkway.
“We will start tonight,” Alvarino said.
Recent evacuations in Miami-Dade
This apartment building isn’t the first one in Miami-Dade County to be evacuated in recent years due to safety concerns. At least nine other residential structures — many in the Miami Beach area and Bay Harbor Islands — have been vacated following the June 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside where 98 people died.
Here’s a list of some of the most recent apartment buildings that have been evacuated in the county:
- Oct. 27, 2022: The city of Miami Beach ordered residents of a 164-unit condo tower located at 6969 Collins Ave. to evacuate the building after engineers found significant damage to a critical structural beam in the parking garage. Residents just had a few hours to gather their belongings load up their cars and arrange for temporary housing.
- June 15, 202: Residents of a four-story, 54-unit Miami Beach building located at 700 Euclid Ave. were ordered to vacate the premises after part of its roof collapsed, according to the city. Two units were damaged but no injuries were reported.
- April, 4, 2022: The city of North Miami Beach ordered residents of a five-story, 60-unit apartment building located at 3800 NE 168th St. to evacuate after receiving an engineer’s report that said it was “structurally unsound.” Since July 2021, the building known as Bayview 60 Homes had been undergoing repairs as part of its 50-year recertification process, the city said at the time.
- Sept. 29, 2021: A two-story, 10-unit Bay Harbor Islands building was evacuated after it had been deemed unsafe due to significant structural and electrical deficiencies. On Sept. 24, the town had received a copy of a report that detailed distressed and cracked beams, walls and floors in addition to outdated electrical equipment.
Bougan-Vill in Bay Harbor Islands was evactuated this week after a report found structural and electrical deficiencies. Google maps - Sept. 1-2, 2021: Two apartment buildings in Bay Harbor Islands were evacuated within a day of each other after the town’s building official said that the properties were unsafe for occupancy. After tenants of a four-story, 24-unit building located at 1080 93rd St. were ordered out of their homes, the town ordered a two-story, nine-unit building located at 1060 95th St. to shut down. The first structure to shut down was built in 1965 and the second one in 1948.
- Aug. 9, 2021: The city of Miami ordered the evacuation of a 138-unit condo at 5050 NW Seventh St. after deeming the structure “unsafe.” The building, constructed in 1973, had been cited in July of that year because it was eight years behind on obtaining its 40-year recertification.
- July 15, 2021: The roof of a three-story apartment building located in 17500 NW 68th Ave. partially collapsed. About 32 people were living in the northwest Miami-Dade building when it was evacuated.
- July 3, 2021: Firefighters ordered residents to evacuate a three-story, 24-unit condominium complex in Miami Beach after a building inspector flagged a flooring system failure in a vacant unit and damage to exterior walls.
- July 2, 2021: The city of North Miami Beach ordered the 10-story, 155-unit Crestview Towers Condominium located at 2025 NE 164th St. to be immediately closed and evacuated after a building inspection report found it not safe for occupancy due to structural and electrical issues.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 4:11 PM.
