The Surfside Collapse: Lives Lost, Lessons Learned

On June 24, 2021, a 12-story beachfront condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed, killing 98 people.

More than 80 rescue units responded to the collapse; the recovery effort would last for 21 days.

A presentation and panel discussion at the First There First Care and Gathering of Eagles Conference June 15, 2022 in Hollywood, Florida, reviewed the response to the tragedy and provided lessons learned when managing a complex disaster of this scale.

Miami Dade Fire-Rescue was the initial agency on scene. Chief Horacio Rodriguez was on duty that night and was the first-arriving chief. The alarm went off around 1:30 AM, and Rodriguez developed a game plan as he sped to the scene.

“The rubble seemed endless,” recalled Rodriguez upon arriving and being briefed by the incident commander. Visible cracks in the remaining structure meant it was not safe for rescue personnel, and structural engineers would be necessary to deem the scene safe.

Two separate branches were developed for the response, said Rodriguez—a special ops team including hazmat, and a medical branch in anticipation of a large-scale MCI with multiple injuries.

Police were on scene and secured the area. Because of the large influx of “freelance” crews, all EMS, fire and rescue units without assignments were advised to report to a staging location for accountability and tracking and allocation of resources. The EMS branch commenced with triage of patients with transport if necessary to area hospitals, which were placed on standby notice.

Thirty-five patients were rescued the first night, said Rodriguez, pointing out the extreme physical and emotional difficulty of the call. “I’m humbled by the bravery of the men and women who responded that night,” he said.

Below is a brief synopsis of remarks by the panel.

• Chief Andy Alvarez served as deputy incident commander. His first challenges were identifying the problems, prioritizing the response, and managing the outcomes. “Very few people go through that in their careers, thankfully,” said Alvarez. The deputy incident commander must make decisions on their own—you can’t bring every decision to the incident commander.
• Capt. Javier Crespo served as safety officer, charged with finding and mitigating hazards. Crespo spoke on the added challenge of responding to an MCI during the COVID pandemic. All responders were tested for COVID and quarantined if positive, said Crespo. He offered further details on the mental health services provided to the response teams. Resources were made available for personnel, such as therapy canines, chaplains, and professional peer support and psychological assistance. One responder simply needed to be alone in a dark room to cry for 5 minutes before returning to work, said Crespo.
• Capt. Keith Bell asked his audience to pause, reflect, and ask themselves where they would start as a liaison on a day like this. The largest obstacles from a liaison standpoint were determining who was who and managing egos, Bell said. “Check your egos at the door,” Bell advised his audience. “We fostered relationships,” he continued—police, building managers, politicians, other response agencies and more. “In this position there is no rank. We were there to get the job done.”
• Battalion Chief John DiBlasio spoke on additional weather-related challenges such as the heat of the day, an approaching hurricane, and the chance of strong lightning storms. A NOAA meteorologist was brought in to provide current and accurate information to maximize safety.
• Jason Fernandez serves as logistics division chief for Miami Dade Fire-Rescue. He established a feeding plan for responders and fielded requests for rescue equipment, along with other responsibilities. Communications was an early challenge, said Fernandez—at the height of the incident, 10 communication channels were being utilized. Coordinating search and rescue efforts required staging SAR personnel 5–7 miles away and using cruise ships for sleeping quarters. Establishing relationships beforehand—such as with volunteer agencies and other response groups—was a “huge benefit” in preventing challenges from compounding, said Fernandez.

Briefings at a family assistance center kept loved ones apprised of updates on missing persons before the media was notified.  Keeping the center staffed with the same officers around the clock proved difficult but offered a welcome measure of trust and compassion for grieving family members. Family members who chose to were transported to the recovery scene so they could appreciate the scope of the disaster and the recovery effort. Israeli rescue teams with close ties to the community provided detailed intelligence on missing persons, their effects, families, and expected locations in the rubble pile.

Panel members praised the interdepartmental collaboration and spirit of a common goal at Surfside, as well as a shared sentiment of being honored to respond to the scene, regardless of personal sacrifice. “At the end of the day, I will get up and strap on my shoes and do it all over again,” Bell said.