JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A four-alarm fire put hundreds of local vendors out of business after a large section of a local flea market burned to ash.
A bird's eye view of the three-section structure gives a good vantage point of the extent of the damage.
We're told the mid-section, also known as the heart of the flea market, lost 60 units in Monday night's fire. One neighbor said he was the second 911 caller thanks to his 12-year-old granddaughter.
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"I saw some smoke and I was like, 'Papa, there's a bunch of smoke over by the flea market', and he was like, 'Oh crap,' and then they called the fire department," said Sierra Jackson.
According to JFRD, crews responded in under 10 minutes. Neighbor Charlie Jackson said the gates were locked so the firefighters couldn't get in right away.
"The second gate had a real padlock on it and they couldn't find the guy that had the keys," said Jackson.
We're told firefighters quickly found bolt cutters. That's when more than two dozen fire trucks surrounded the scene with about 100 firefighters attacking the massive fire.
"Fourth of July gone wrong kinda thing," said Sierra Jackson.
"Flames were shooting at times upwards of 30-40 feet in the air," said Charlie Jackson.
It was like deja vu for neighbors, who watched a section of this flea market burn down in 2006. The cause of that fire is still unknown.
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