Sixty firefighters worked to put out a fire that caused major damage at a Jacksonville gentlemen’s club Saturday morning.
Robert Glaesel said he called 911 after he saw heavy smoke coming from Gold Club on Atlantic Boulevard in Arlington.
“I could see some flames out of the back of the building. Some of the trees next to it were on fire,” Glaesel, who works nearby, said.
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Firefighters forced their way into the building and made their way to the flames but had to pull back after they found a significant number of hot spots smoldering underneath the metal roof.
“It became right then and there an impossibility to get that under control to the extent where we wouldn’t have to worry about endangering the lives of our firefighters,” Tom Francis, public information officer for Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department, said. “So everybody was pulled back.”
Francis said a second alarm was issued to bring in more firefighters then a third alarm shortly after.
Sixty firefighters put out the fire but there was significant damage to the building.
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The general manager of the club said close to 200 people make their livelihood at the club.
“All of them, a month away from Christmas, are now looking for work,” Russ Disparti said.
Disparti said the workers are welcome to work at three other clubs.
“We are going to do our best to make sure they have somewhere to go,” he said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.