An explosion was reported at a welding shop in Medley, Florida, on Tuesday morning, sparking a far that incinerated several cars, one of which appeared to be a fuel carrier.
According to local reports, the fire was triggered by a spark while workers at the shop were using acetylene for welding. However, both homicide and arson investigators from the Miami-Dade Police Department were reportedly also on the scene.
“It was a very hazardous scenario,” Danny Cardeso, the deputy fire chief of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told local media. “You had multiple vehicles burning with flammables. You had multiple power lines down. That coupled with five people in total needing rescue or needing care was a very challenging scene.”
Two people were declared dead at the scene, while five more were transported to area hospitals for burn treatment. Two were reported as being in critical conditions while another had reportedly minor burns.
The incident comes amid heightened attention on industrial mishaps in the United States, triggered by a train crash in East Palestine, Ohio. That incident resulted in the controlled burning of chemicals that poured huge amounts of toxic chemicals across the area, including phosgene, which has been used as a chemical weapon.