JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Video shows a massive fire that burned a Jacksonville apartment building to the ground Sunday.
Action News Jax reported on it live all morning as crews fought the flames off Baymeadows Road East.
The sky glowed bright orange and families could see the flames from Interstate 295.
“It got much bigger way faster than I thought it would,” Brian Mcate said.
— MyJFRD (@JFRDJAX) January 12, 2020
He said he was on his way home from work. He called 911 when he saw flames in a few windows of the vacant apartment building.
“By the time I turned around and came back, it was just the whole thing. The whole thing was just fire,” he said.
— MyJFRD (@JFRDJAX) January 12, 2020
Other families also called 911, fearing it would spread to the Hampton Park subdivision behind it.
“It got in the woods and went further to the north, jumped a road and got into the back of some houses over there,” JFRD Chief Keith Powers said. “Did not catch any houses on fire, but we had to put some crews back there to put those woods out and protect those homes.”
Powers said a total of 110 firefighters fought the fire using 14 engines and seven ladders. The flames burned the empty apartment building to the ground.
It was part of the Fusion apartments that are under construction at 8283 Baymeadows Road East.
JFRD said a new fire station a mile and a half away played a big role in helping them stop the fire from spreading.
“The men and women did a phenomenal job with what they were facing when they got here,” Powers said. “It was an extremely large fire.”
The state fire marshal is now investigating the cause.
© 2020 Cox Media Group
