At 5:26am on Monday, August 16, 2021, an SUV heading southbound on LeJeune Road was struck by a dark car heading eastbound on NW 36th Street. The eastbound vehicle appears to have been speeding and clearly ran the red light.
The good news is that, unlike some of the initial reports, there were no fatalities from this accident. However, there were multiple injuries of various degrees.
As you can see, the dark car immediately burst into flames upon impact. The larger SUV took significant damage to the front of the vehicle, but you can clearly see the airbags deploying to help minimize injuries to the occupants.
What was infuriating to me (aside from the red light runner) was to watch people who just witnessed the accident just continue driving by as if it was no big deal. Apparently getting to work on time was more important to some people than rendering aid.
However, in 20 seconds, you can see a southbound driver, that had nothing to do with the accident, pull up and park their car with flashers on to render aid near the SUV. Whoever you are…Thank you!
Within 60 seconds, an eastbound driver pulled up near the car that was on fire to render aid. Soon thereafter you can see someone being pulled out of the passenger seat of the car that was on fire. Within 80 seconds another vehicle pulled over by the car on fire to help render aid.
It took 2 minutes, but by 5:28 am, the fire started to really pick up on the dark car. By 5:29 am the flames start shooting over the roof of the vehicle. By 5:30am, the flames are estimated at 8 – 10 feet high.
Remember, our Police are incredibly fast. In fact, Miami Springs Police were the first responders at the scene within just 4 minutes of the accident. However, it’s up to regular citizens to try to provide aid within those first crucial minutes and seconds. You can see how the fire went from something in the engine compartment for the first minute or so to growing significantly within just 2 minutes.
By 5:30am, the first Miami Springs Police Officer arrives at the scene. He heads off camera towards the occupants that were pulled out of the burning car.
At 5:31am, reinforcements arrive with one Miami-Dade Police cruiser arriving eastbound on 36th Street. At the same time you can see 3 more patrol cars heading north on LeJeune. At 5:32am yet another patrol car can be seen arriving at the location from LeJeune. At 5:33 am, another Miami Springs Patrol SUV arrives southbound on LeJeune. At 5:34 am, two more Miami Springs Officers arrive southbound on LeJeune followed by the first Miami-Dade Fire Rescue unit that arrived eastbound on NW 36th Street.
To recap, within the first few seconds, good samaritans did their part to render aid and get the occupants out of the vehicles and to safety. Miami Springs Police were the first agency to arrive at the scene in just 4 minutes. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue made it to the location in just 8 minutes.
We want to thank the good samaritans who did their part to render aid, the Miami Springs and Miami-Dade Police who arrived at the location quickly and with re-inforcements. And we want to thank Miami-Dade Fire Rescue for their prompt arrival.
It was a horrible accident, but this could have easily been fatal.
Drive safely.
