Firefighters extinguished the vehicle fire while technical rescue crews extricated two construction workers trapped inside a storage container

By David Fischer and Marta Lavandier
Associated Press

MIAMI — An 85-foot (26-meter) crane towering over a construction site in an upscale Miami neighborhood toppled onto a passing vehicle Monday morning, setting it on fire and injuring the driver and three construction workers, officials said.

The collapse occurred shortly after 8 a.m. in the city’s Brickell neighborhood. Miami Fire Chief Robert Hevia said at a news conference Monday that he was thankful no one was killed in the crane collapse and car fire.

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“I’ve been on the fire department for 28 years; when you see the scene, it’s impressive,” Hevia said. “The fact that we had four victims, and they were all able to be extricated or self-extricate themselves with minor injuries is a remarkable day for them.”

A woman driving on a street next to the construction site saw the crane begin to fall over, Hevia said.

“To be able to see the crane falling, pull the car in reverse and pop out of the back while the car’s on fire, really incredible,” he said, adding that the crane also crushed two unoccupied parked cars but fell on a storage container with two construction workers inside.

The two workers who had been trapped, along with the crane operator who managed to jump out as the crane was tipping over, were all transported to a nearby trauma center with minor injuries, Hevia said. The woman driving the car also had minor injuries and was taken to a different hospital. Officials haven’t identified the injured.

“It was a very complex scene with a fire that was occurring; our crews were putting out the fire and our technical rescue team working simultaneously to cut through the conex box, the construction box, and they were able to successfully extricate the two victims,” Hevia said, confirming that all other workers at the construction site were accounted for.

Officials have not said what caused the crane, specifically a piling rig, to topple, and Hevia said the collapse is under investigation. A piling rig usually shares the same base as a traditional crane, but its upper part is designed to drive columns deep into the ground to support large structures.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Miami-Dade County Unsafe Structures personnel responded, officials said. Firefighters remained to monitor and control a fuel spill and prevent further spread until a specialized mitigation crew arrived.

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Fischer reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The program, in collaboration with the National Volunteer Fire Council, provided $10,000 grants to 150 fire departments