Surroundings explosion
Details
This is an expired event!
Event title
United States - Fiery manhole explosion underneath Lincoln Road stores injures 3, closes streets and leads to evacuation of building
Source
Severity
Low
Event date (UTC)
2026-07-13 18:32:41
Last update (UTC)
2026-07-13 18:32:41
Area range
Local event
Address/Affected area(s)
South Beach, Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, Florida
An explosive emergency closed off several streets in South Beach, sent three people to the hospital and led to the evacuation of several stores.
There was panic and fear among those nearby as fire underneath a strip of stores quickly turned into something much larger, Sunday night.
The blast caused shoppers to stop in their tracks.
“I hear a boom,” said a bystander.
“I just heard this loud explosion,” said John McCluster. “I guess there was some kind of explosion underground.”
“Like explosion, like it was a big boom,” said Pamela Santos.
According to Miami Beach Fire Rescue, a manhole fire near the corner of Collins Avenue and Lincoln Road ignited a Florida Power & Light Company electrical vault inside an adjacent building at 230 Lincoln Road, at around 7:15 p.m.
“There were lots of flames coming out. It’s kind of a shocking moment,” said Danny Dunkin.
The manhole fire impacted a portion of the building next to Ross Dress for Less and Five Below.
“The windows started breaking,” said a bystander.
The businesses were evacuated as firefighters rushed in to contain the flames, while FPL shut off power to the surrounding area to safely respond.
“The street was totally closed, like with lots of fire trucks and police,” said Santos.
Three people were taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center with minor injuries.
“It happened less than a minute after I left, so I’m lucky it wasn’t me,” said a bystander.
“I knew crazy stuff happened in Miami, but I didn’t know it’d be something like this,” said Dunkin.
Fire crews were able to contain the flames.
According to officials, the people who were taken to the hospital are expected to be OK.
Monday morning, the manhole and the front of the building that was evacuated were still cordoned off with yellow tape. The Ross has reopened as of 10 a.m., but Five Below and Albin’s Island remained closed to shoppers, as FPL crews continued to work in the area.
Crews said there doesn’t appear to be much damage inside the stores. 7News has reached out to Miami Beach Fire Rescue for an update.
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