Fix It Up And Set It On Fire?

Well, perhaps not intentionaly, but this place had only recently had new shingles put on the roof and new siding installed on the sides, a fancy textured concrete driveway was put in front, and very likely extensive interior improvements as well. Then somehow a fire started. It looks like it was mostly just in that front bedroom on the right side of the house. They were lucky! This was probably the last development in North Miami before they started requiring houses to be built of concrete block construction.

Right after World War II there was a big demand for housing. This development in North Miami is known as the Roads Section, running from 131st Street to 135th Street between N.E. 14th Ave. and N.E. 16th Ave. The streets run at angles to the streets and avenues in the surrounding area and are called "roads" and "lanes". They're mostly curved or even gentle "S" shapes.

Even though these wooden houses were built long before the current "hurricane proof" building codes went into effect they've survived many storms that have leveled more recent "better" concrete construction. The one thing that wood can't stand, though, is fire. Fortunately one of the city's fire stations is but 5 or 6 blocks south of here, right on N.E. 16th Ave. I never did find out the reason for the fire but it was soon extinguished.