Thursday, March 24, 2011

Large fuel fire breaks out at Miami International Airport

Miami-Dade firefighters were battling a major fire at Miami International Airport early Thursday.

Drivers could see smoke billowing from the airport as they drove on nearby State Road 836 shortly after 11 p.m. The fire started Wednesday night and raged into early Thursday morning.

The fire was at a fuel tank farm in the southeast corner of the airport, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesman Capt. Eric Baum said. The fire was not near runways or the terminals, he said.

An airport spokeswoman said that, as of 1 a.m., only one flight had been delayed.

But getting the fire under control would take significant manpower. Early Thursday, Baum said fire rescue had 20 units on scene, all working to contain the blaze. Their strategy, he said, was to let the tanks already on fire burn off while protecting the other tanks.

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