There was a fire inside a North Miami Beach condo evacuated over safety concerns

A fire broke out early Monday inside Crestview Towers, a North Miami Beach condominium building that was shut down and evacuated last month over structural and electrical safety concerns.

More than a dozen fire rescue units responded to the 10-story Crestview Towers Condominium, 2025 NE 164th St, after receiving a call about a fire, just before 4:30 a.m., according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

The “small” fire was possibly caused by an “electrical failure,” fire rescue said. The fire was found inside a second floor unit, above the first floor parking garage. Crews climbed a 24-foot ladder to reach the unit and extinguish the flames. Firefighters were seen standing on the unit’s balcony.

The fire was put out by 6 a.m. Crews searched the building and found no one inside, according to fire rescue’s fire alarm office.

There were no reported injuries.

Crestview Towers has been empty of residents since it was ordered closed on July 2 as part of the city’s review of all condo high-rise buildings following the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside near Miami Beach, which left 98 people dead.

The 1972 condo tower in North Miami Beach, with 156 units, was the first building ordered closed due to unsafe structural and electrical issues after the collapse. The building had missed or skipped its 40-year recertification, which would have been due in 2012, as the Miami Herald has previously reported.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue later reinspected the building and found 39 code violations, including a non-working fire alarm system and a non-working emergency generator, the city said on July 16.