OAKLAND PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - Firefighters worked the scene of a 2-alarm fire in Oakland Park for almost a full day.
Oakland Park Fire Rescue crews first responded to the scene at a warehouse located at 4201 NE 6th Ave. at around 11 a.m., Wednesday.
According to Oakland Park Fire Chief Stephen Krivjanik, the business where the fire broke out focuses on Styrofoam manufacturing.
“I believe we had an electrical issue. I was working on one of the big pressing machines when we lost power to the unit, so we checked the fuse boxes and everything seemed OK,” said employee Bobby Floyd.
Floyd said he was inside Barco Sales and Manufacturing Wednesday when he said the situation got bad fast.
“And all of a sudden we heard a pop, and then we came out, we yelled, ‘Fire!’ and I started running for the fire extinguisher,” he said.
Employees attempted to put out the fire, but the flames ignited too quickly. Before long, thick black smoke was seen in the sky for miles, and one of the employees lost their car.
“The propane tanks for their forklifts, you can hear them blowing up from outside, and then there’s a truck parked outside as well, and you’ve seen that catch fire as well,” said James Tate, who works at a business across the street.
Getting the flames under control was no easy task. Crews had to call for backup, and part of the building collapsed.
“We had close to 100 firefighters here from three departments trying to mitigate the situation,” Krivjanik said.
FPL shut down the power grid in the area.
Hours later, part of the rubble was still smoldering and fire crews were hosing down hot spots while many who work nearby counted their blessings that no one was seriously hurt.
The business is now lost, but the official cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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