Residents evacuate Hialeah apartment building after it partially collapsed, firefighters say

Verónica Egui Brito, Omar Rodríguez Ortiz

More than a dozen tenants at a two-story apartment building in Hialeah were told not to enter their homes indefinitely after part of the structure collapsed Monday morning, firefighters said.

There were no injuries reported in the 15 residential units located at 2350 Palm Avenue, but the building — now deemed unsafe by authorities — was evacuated as officials inspect a damaged walkway, Hialeah fire spokesman David Rodriguez told el Nuevo Herald.

Police talk to residents after a walkway on the second floor collapsed on Monday morning, Oct. 31, 2022, and the building on Palm Avenue in Hialeah was deemed unsafe. Residents waited outside for answers all afternoon.
Police talk to residents after a walkway on the second floor collapsed on Monday morning, Oct. 31, 2022, and the building on Palm Avenue in Hialeah was deemed unsafe. Residents waited outside for answers all afternoon.

Fire crews arrived at the building, built in 1958, at around 10 a.m., Rodriguez told the Miami Herald. There they discovered that pieces of cement and rebar had fallen from the bottom of the second floor walkway to the first one.

“If someone would have been there, things might have been much worse,” Rodriguez said. “Thank God nobody was there.”

Crews assess damage on the staircase of the walkway that collapsed at a building on Palm Avenue in Hialeah on Monday morning, Oct. 31, 2022.
Crews assess damage on the staircase of the walkway that collapsed at a building on Palm Avenue in Hialeah on Monday morning, Oct. 31, 2022.

It wasn’t immediately known how many people were home when the collapse occurred nor when they would be allowed to return.

The Red Cross is assisting the affected families with vouchers and transportation to a hotel, the office of Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo told the Herald.

Pete Suarez, left, a volunteer with the Red Cross Disaster Response team, talks to residents while they wait outside for answers after a walkway on the second floor collapsed and the building on Palm Avenue in Hialeah was deemed unsafe on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022.
Pete Suarez, left, a volunteer with the Red Cross Disaster Response team, talks to residents while they wait outside for answers after a walkway on the second floor collapsed and the building on Palm Avenue in Hialeah was deemed unsafe on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022.

Mariel Campos, a tenant at the apartment, said she was taking a shower when she felt the building vibrate.

“I went running to see what was happening and we couldn’t open the door, it was blocked with debris,” the 32-year-old woman said.

Campos said she’s concerned that she won’t be allowed to retrieve any belongings from her home, including her 8-year-old daughter’s school uniform.

“I left her with a friend who lives nearby because if she sees how the building looks now she will be shocked,” Campos said.

Maria Magdalena Hernandez, 61, center, hands out coffee to fellow residents while they wait outside for answers after a walkway on the second floor collapsed that morning and their building on Palm Avenue was deemed unsafe on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, in Hialeah.
Maria Magdalena Hernandez, 61, center, hands out coffee to fellow residents while they wait outside for answers after a walkway on the second floor collapsed that morning and their building on Palm Avenue was deemed unsafe on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, in Hialeah.

María Magdalena Hernández, a 61-year-old tenant, said that she had gone shopping with a neighbor just minutes before the collapse.

Hernández added that she feels distressed because nobody told her where she would sleep with her disabled daughter Monday night.

According to Jorge Albarino, who identified himself as the owner of the apartment building, the city gave him permission Monday to demolish the rest of the walkway.

“We will start tonight,” Albarino said.

This developing story will be updated.

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