Burning Tree Falls On Miami-Dade Firefighter

HOMESTEAD, FL — A Miami-Dade firefighter was taken by helicopter to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center on Wednesday afternoon after he was hit by a burning tree. The incident happened at SW 288 Street and SW 132 Avenue. First responders said the firefighter was battling a brush fire at the time.

"It’s one of our guys that was fighting a fire and apparently a tree fell on him," explained Lt. Felipe Lay of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Miami Patch.)

Lay said that the firefighter was unconscious when he was placed into the aircraft. He was not identified.

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"After he was in route on the bird he did become alert," Lay told Patch. "It's definitely a good sign but time will tell."

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez told Local 10 News that he was not aware of any first responder being injured in the same manner in all his years as a firefighter.

"I've been in the fire service actively for 40 years — 25 actually in it — and I never heard of that happening here in Dade County," he said. "It's a pretty freak accident."

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue dropped water on another brush fire via helicopter on Tuesday. That fire was also in Southwest Miami-Dade County, but was unrelated, according to Lay.

Watch below as a helicopter makes an aerial drop on Tuesday:

Photo and video courtesy Miami-Dade Fire Rescue