Person dies after Miami-Dade Fire Rescue training exercise goes wrong – NBC 6 South Florida

The person injured after a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue training went wrong has died, Miami-Dade Police said Saturday.

The announcement came just hours after Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava released a statement, pushing for an investigation into the incident that occurred during a training exercise on Friday.

The 28-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, was hospitalized as crews battled the third-alarm fire at a building near Miami International Airport.

Authorities confirmed that the victim was a relative of a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighter and was not an employee of Miami-Dade County.

The fire broke out around 10:30 a.m. at the three-story building in the 6500 block of Northwest 36th Street across the street from the airport.

“I was deeply saddened to learn about an accident that took place during a training exercise with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel,” Mayor Levine Cava stated. “I have asked our Chief of Public Safety to lead a full investigation into the events that took place yesterday along with a comprehensive review of protocols and practices – to ensure we do everything possible to prevent an incident like this in the future, to keep our firefighters and first responders safe.”

Aerial footage from Chopper 6 showed smoke coming out of the building as multiple Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews responded, using ladders to get to the roof and smashing windows to get inside.

More than 30 rescue vehicles responded to the scene, including engine trucks, ambulances and others.

RAW: Crews respond to a fire at a building near Miami International Airport.

NBC6 sources with direct knowledge of the training said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was in the building with a live fire.

The sources said someone was inside the warehouse who was not supposed to be there, and that person was injured and taken to a local hospital.

That person’s identity and condition were unknown. Chopper 6 did spot a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Helicopter transporting one person to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

Scanner chatter also captured a conversation related to the fire.

“Two victims that were initially in are out, the third victim is a firefighter that’s unconscious, do we know what unit he’s from?” one first responder asks.

“I think the downed fireman is one of the Saudis firefighters,” a second replies.

“Copy. So one of the firefighters is a downed firefighter which is Saudi. Ok, copy, thank you for the clarification,” the other first responder says.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue does have a partnership with Saudi Arabia where their firefighters come to South Florida to train.

Fire rescue officials confirmed that one person was transported to the main trauma center, but said the patient is not a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue employee.

Earlier Friday, officials had said that that there were several patients who were being assessed at the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said.

Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer and the state’s Fire Marshal, posted about the incident on X.

“Terrible situation in Miami today. I’ve been in touch with local officials and fire investigators from my office are en route to the scene to assist @MiamiDadeFire with the fire investigation,” Patronis posted. “Please join me in praying for those injured in this unfortunate incident.”

Patronis’ communications director also released a statement on the fire.

“This fire investigation is open and ongoing at this time. The DFS (Department of Financial Services) investigation will focus solely on the cause of the fire incident,” the statement read. “Any details regarding injuries should be directed to the local authorities.”

No other information was immediately known.

Check back with NBC6 for updates.