Nearly 40 FL Firefighters Battle Three-Alarm Blaze

Flames lit up the sky above a warehouse in a Tamarac industrial park near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Wednesday night.

The 3-alarm blaze happened about 8 p.m. in the 2800 block of Northwest 55th Court, said Tamarac Fire Rescue spokesman Van Schoen.

“It was a big warehouse filled with textiles,” he said. “We had some breaching of the front walls and had some concerns there was going to be a possible collapse so we pulled our people back.”

Nearly 40 firefighters from Tamarac, Fort Lauderdale, Lauderhill, Oakland Park, North Lauderdale, Plantation, Coral Springs, Margate, and Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue combined efforts to control the heavy smoke and flames during an operation that lasted more than two hours.

It did not spread to neighboring warehouses but smoke did drift over the airport runways.

“[The airport is] within 75 yards,” Schoen said. “So when [planes] were coming in they were going through that smoke.”

There were no reports of any serious injuries but a woman who was closing up shop tried to put out the fire and was overcome by smoke, he said.

“Unfortunately, she had smoke inhalation and was transported to [Florida Medical Center],” he said. “She wasn’t in a life-threatening situation but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

State fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire in the heavily damaged building.

“We had a great turnout,” Schoen said. “A lot of municipalities were there and that’s what mutual aid and working together is all about.”

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