A massive, fast-moving fire that ignited overnight gutted a multimillion-dollar home in Southwest Miami-Dade owned by Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.
7News cameras captured heavy flames and smoke billowing from a house near Southwest 49th Avenue and 80th Street, just before 6 a.m. on Thursday, as well as several Miami-Dade Fire Rescue trucks.
According to fire officials, the blaze sparked at around 4:30 a.m.
Firefighters initially appeared to focus on the garage before the flames spread across the one-acre property. Adding to the challenge of combating the two-alarm blaze is that the residence is surrounded by trees, and there is another home right behind it.
Cameras captured the moment Spoelstra arrived on the property at around 5:10 a.m, looking distraught as he watched his five-bedroom, six-bath home engulfed in flames. The coach was in Denver Wednesday night, where the Heat played against the Nuggets.
Crews were seen using at least two ladder trucks as they fought the flames.
“We used multiple aerial apparatuses, fire engines and rescues to combat this incident,” said MDFR Batallion Chief Victoria Byrd. “Due to the privacy wall and a lot of the tree cover, it was very diffucult to access, with only one point of entry. The men and women from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue were able to extinguish this fire and do the best job that they could.”
As of 11 a.m., firefighters continued extinguishing hot spots.
While the front of the home is still standing, a large part of the rest of the structure has collapsed.
Neighbors told 7News that the home had been undergoing renovations for some time.
Just last week, Spoelstra invited the whole team over to his home for a barbecue as they kick-started the new NBA season. Video posted to Instagram showed players engoing a game of soccer in the backyard and cooking on the grill.
Now the house is a total loss, but officials said crews were able to prevent the fire from spreading to neighboring homes.
Officials said no one was injured, adding the home was unoccupied at the time the fire started, as they continue to investigate.