Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett speaks to a reporter outside the site of Thursday’s disaster at Champlain Towers South. Photo credit: Rachel Pinzur
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett walked through crowds of first responders and reporters Saturday, answering questions and offering support to families near the former Champlain Towers South, a 13-story condominium replaced by a smoking pile of rubble after its collapse Thursday.
“My role is very insignificant,” Burkett said. “My duties are really to support the families, which is what I’ve primarily been focusing on, because obviously what they’re going through is really unimaginable.”
At about 1:30 a.m. on June 24, the beach-front condo crashed to the ground in a pile of fiery rubble, turning the small beach-side town of Surfside, just north of Miami Beach, upside down.