Fire Destroys Cars In Hard Rock Stadium Lot During Miami Dolphins Game

MIAMI GARDENS, FL — An unmanned barbecue in the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot sparked a fire that destroyed multiple cars Sunday afternoon as the Miami Dolphins faced off against the New England Patriots on the field, according to reports.

Despite the emergency outside the stadium, the Dolphins went on to win their opening-day game 20-7, ESPN reported.

More than 10 cars were destroyed in the blaze in a remote parking lot, which was reported around 1:30 p.m., according to the Miami Herald. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the fire.

Josh Moser, a sports anchor with WSVN, tweeted video of the smoke, which could be seen from the stands, during the game.

“Uh oh! Smoke coming from the parking lot of the NE corner of (Hard Rock Stadium,)” he tweeted. “Hopefully, all is good at the tailgate!”

Minutes later, he tweeted that the smoke was from a vehicle fire and that MDFR “had it under control.”

Moser added, “It’s hot down here in (Miami).”

The Only in Dade blog also tweeted a video of the thick plume of smoke in the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot.

One Dolphins fan told WSVN, “We’re standing here, we’re all having a great time, and we see a lot of big, black smoke over there,” he said. “We’re like, ‘Oh, what’s going on? We start looking and, ‘Oh, it’s a fire. Next thing we know, we hear a few pops; it’s tires going off.”

Most owners of the cars destroyed in the lot were unaware of the fire until after the game was over.

Scott Dellorfano, the owner of a Mercedes S63 with about $3,000 inside the car at the time of the fire, told NBC Miami, “They said a grill caught on fire, it set off another car that blew up and it took our five or six cars. That's what the police told me. I got insurance, you call stadium legal people, and then go from there,"