A routine morning at a Miami-Dade County vehicle maintenance yard turned deadly when an explosion ripped through the fuel pumps, killing one worker and injuring four others. The blast struck a county facility in the 6100 block of Southwest 87th Avenue, where maintenance crews and fire department staff fuel their service vehicles.
Roughly 40 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded, and the call was upgraded to a First Alarm fire to bring in additional personnel. Fire officials said the explosion came from an underground fuel tank, and the force of the blast blew a canopy near the pumps sideways. Chief Ray Jadallah said arriving crews found a partially destroyed overhang and an active fire burning up from underground.
The injured included a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office lieutenant who was at or near the site. Two victims were taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, a third was transported elsewhere, and a fourth drove themselves to a hospital; one victim was in critical condition, though all were reported stable.
A crew from Cherokee Enterprises, a Medley-based fueling company also known as CEI, was working at the facility when the explosion occurred. Family members of those employees rushed to the scene in search of information. Authorities initially withheld the victims’ names while contacting relatives. Family members later identified the man who was killed as Leomar Suris.
Investigators have only begun untangling what went wrong. The cause remains under active investigation, with the area near the fuel pumps and underground tanks expected to be a central focus, and multiple agencies, potentially including fire investigators and OSHA, anticipated to take part. Officials said they were working with the State Fire Marshal and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office to determine the cause and origin, and Chief Jadallah expressed confidence that answers would come within days.
The questions ahead are pointed: whether the underground tanks were properly maintained and inspected, whether safety protocols for working near flammable materials were followed, and whether there was any prior sign of a leak or ignition hazard.
A section of Southwest 87th Avenue remained closed as the investigation continued. The family of the man who died has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover expenses.
