Dec 29, 2008 7:32 am US/Eastern
Investigators Look For Clues In Deadly House Fire
Armando Gonzalez Was One Of The First Cubans To Play At Miami Jai-Alai
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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A house fire in Little Havana killed two victims and injured two others, including a firefighter.
CBS
The wife of a South Florida sports pioneer has died from injuries she suffered in a fire at her family's Little Havana home, a fire that killed her husband and left her mother critically injured.
Daisey Jimenez, wife of Armando Gonzalez, 61, died late Saturday evening at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Fire investigators are still trying to determine what started the fire.
Gonzalez was one of the first Cubans to play at the Miami Jai-Alai Fronton and was a star player from 1968 until 1981. Former player Romo Hurtado told
CBS4's Tiffani Helberg that Gonzalez loved the game.
"We loved the game. When we were young and we performed here when there were big crowds back then when it was very popular," said Hurtado.
The fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. Saturday and quickly spread through the home.
"There were flames 15, 20 feet past the roof," said witness Noel Blanco Jr.
Firefighters had it under control in an hour's time and explained there was a lot of difficulty getting inside because of iron bars on the doors and windows.
Gonzalez, his wife Daisy, 56, and his mother-in-law Aleida Jimenez, 78, were trapped inside as firefighters struggled to cut through the iron burglary bars. At the same time, firefighters doused the home, located at 1301 SW 21st Avenue, with as much water as possible.
"This was a fast moving fire. It consumed most of the bedrooms inside this home so much that it went through the roof and the roof collapsed," said Lt. Ignatius Carroll, a spokesman for the City of Miami Fire Rescue.
A Miami firefighter also suffered burns when he was struck with a piece of falling debris, according to Lt. Carroll.
"As we tried to make our way into the house, we had to cut through the iron bar doors to get inside. As the firefighters got inside, the ceiling began to collapse falling on one of our firefighters." He added, "He received minor injuries and transported to the hospital for observations."
The firefighter was treated for second-degree burns to his neck and has already been released from the hospital.
News of the fire drew neighbors from across the community as well as the Mayor of Miami Manny Diaz and Marcos De La Rosa, the Deputy Chief of the Hialeah Fire Department who came to pay his respects. Gonzalez was also the father of a Hialeah firefighter, who was on vacation at the time of the fire.
"Any tragic loss of our firefighters is our extended family and we'll do anything we can for him," said De La Rosa.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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