About 80 firefighters battled a blaze early Wednesday at a New Kings Road commercial building, according to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.
When it looked like part of the building was going to collapse despite firefighting efforts, chiefs evacuated everyone from inside, Capt. Eric Prosswimmer said. The morning blaze came less than a day after four firefighters received minor injuries during a blazing house fire on Acorn Street.
"Command recognized very early that the structure was not stable and safe and made the decision to pull everybody out," he said. "It proved to be a very smart decision. Roofs and walls collapsed, but even amongst all that, the guys still did a great job in saving the whole building."
The first crews were called about 3:45 a.m. to the fire in the 8400 block of New Kings Road. The first truck on scene reported heavy smoke as more crews were en route, fire officials said. More crews were called just after 5 a.m. and the fire declared under control about an hour and a half after the first crews arrived, Prosswimmer said.
The fire happened in a multi-use building including a trucking company, storage units and other businesses, news partner First Coast News reported. Firefighting efforts did manage to save a large part of the structure, Prosswimmer said.
The cause was unknown as the state fire marshal will investigate, officials said.
___
(c)2020 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
