Photo by: WEAR
A late-night fire tore through a furniture store at the Choctaw Plaza shopping center in Fort Walton Beach on Monday, destroying one business and leaving several neighboring businesses with smoke damage.
The Fort Walton Beach Fire Department says they received a 911 call about a commercial structure fire at about 8 p.m. at Choctaw Plaza, 119 Racetrack Road NW.
Firefighters arrived within minutes and reported heavy smoke and flames coming from the Rent-A-Center on the west side of the shopping center, according to the release.
The release states because of the size of the building and the amount of fire involvement, the response was quickly upgraded to three alarms to bring in additional manpower.
About 10 firefighting vehicles and 35 personnel from the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department, Ocean City-Wright Fire Control District, and the Okaloosa Island Fire Department responded, according to the release.
Crews say they launched an interior attack to contain the fire at its source.
The fire was brought under control in about 30 minutes, and firefighters prevented it from spreading into adjacent businesses, according to the release.
Rent-A-Center sustained significant damage and property loss. Fire officials said smoke spread through the building’s roof and caused damage to several other businesses in the same building.
No one was inside at the time of the fire, and no civilian or firefighter injuries were reported, according to the release.
The Florida State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause and origin of the fire.
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Source: weartv
