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Fire forces Best Buy evacuation
Staff report
November 24, 2002
Courtesy Of The News Journal Online

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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Shoppers were forced to leave a Best Buy store Saturday night when a small but smoky fire filled a storage area with thick smoke, officials said.

About 30 workers and at least that many shoppers were in the store on International Speedway Boulevard at about 8 p.m. when the firefighters were dispatched.

The fire was believed to have been electrical in nature.

Carlos Campos, 33, of Daytona Beach was in the store looking for a vacuum cleaner with family members when a smoke alarm sounded.

"At first they said it was a false alarm," Campos said. "We noticed smelling smoke, then all of a sudden they told us we couldn't shop anymore."

Store manager Kirk Allard said an electrical outlet in the warehouse area appeared charred, but he was unsure of the cause. Allard said the store was evacuated as a precaution. No injuries were reported. Store workers used fire extinguishers to knock down the fire of burning papers before firefighters arrived. The store reopened at about 8:30 p.m.