Fire Strikes West Miami-Dade Condo Twice

Samuel and Luz Mary Loaiza thought they were safe when the firefighters left.

A short circuit, they were told, caused Saturday morning's blaze in the attic of their West Miami-Dade apartment. But it was out, they were told.

''They said it was OK now. Everything was back to normal,'' Luz Mary Loaiza said.

''But everything was not back to normal.''

Saturday night, about 12 hours later, firefighters returned to a bigger blaze that had resumed in the same spot.

Miami-Dade fire spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said both fires did originate in the same attic area.

''Our crews in the morning were actually there a rather long time. They were confident the fire was put out,'' Martinez said.

So were the Loaizas, who now want the fire department to explain why nobody checked the boxes and suitcases of Colombia-bound clothes in the attic that could have been smoldering.

''We've lost everything! We don't even have any clothes!'' Luz Mary Loaiza said.

The woman discovered the first fire when she awoke Saturday just after 9 a.m. and walked into the kitchen.

She ran into her bedroom to wake her husband, screaming, ''We're going to burn! We're going to burn!'' Their 10-year-old son had slept over at a friend's house.

After firefighters extinguished the blaze, they told the couple that it was likely caused by an electrical short circuit, Luz Mary Loaiza said.

''They said we needed to leave because there was too much smoke and we had to air it out; that when they checked out what caused the short circuit, FPL would put the power back on.''

She picked up her son Sebastian, took him to soccer and to eat lunch afterward. They went back into the apartment to get their bathing suits about 3 p.m. and headed for the pool. They were out until about 8 p.m.

About 9 p.m., the family left to go to the home of Samuel Loaiza's daughter, Clara, whose son was celebrating his 15th birthday.

''We were not here for 30 minutes when my neighbor called me. 'Honey, come! Come! Your home is burning again,'' Luz Mary Loaiza said.

By the time they arrived, more than 30 firefighters were battling the blaze, Martinez said. It was under control in about 40 minutes. She said investigators had not yet determined the exact cause, but hinted the couple may be responsible.

''It seems that the resident in that apartment was doing electrical work without permits,'' Martinez said. ''We don't know if that was the cause of the fire or not, but we've referred that to building and zoning.''

Although he said he had worked on the home in other ways -- and had just painted his son's room recently -- Samuel Loaiza said he has never done any electrical work in his apartment.

The couple is insured for the condo through the homeowners association, but have no coverage for the contents.

''It's not much, but it was ours,'' Samuel Loaiza said, adding that his son's bedroom set had been delivered two weeks ago.

''It's nice. It was nice,'' he said, catching himself. ''It was comfortable. We had it just so.

''You know, it's heartbreaking. You work and you work like a mule, squeeze as much as you can out of every dime so that you can make your home nicer, and then this happens.''

But his daughter is just glad nobody was home at the time.

''They would have been sleeping soundly, confident that everything was OK,'' Clara Loaiza said.

''I'm just glad they're alive.''

Distributed by the Associated Press