40 firefighters battle large blaze at Sanford warehouse, officials say

Cause of fire under investigation, fire department says

SANFORD, Fla. – The Seminole County Fire Department and state fire marshal are investigating a fire that caused thousands of dollars in damage to a warehouse in Sanford early Sunday morning, the fire department said.

A Sanford police officer drove by the 20,000 square foot warehouse on the 5900 block of Penn Avenue and noticed the fire just after 3 a.m., fire officials said.

"The crews got out on the scene, and they had heavy fire on the front part of the building," Seminole County Fire Assistant Chief Jeff Ward said.

Fire officials said that by the time firefighters responded to the warehouse, which belongs to Fatezzi Wood, a business that manufactures faux wood products, the building was 50 percent engulfed by the flames. 

Ward told News 6 the fake wood products posed a challenge for the firefighters.

"Because of the smoke and because it is a combustible material and the nature of the fact that they store a lot of it here, what we consider the fuel load is very high," Ward said. "So that's making it very stubborn."

Officials said 40 firefighters, including firefighters from the Seminole County Fire Department, Lake Mary Fire Department, Sanford Fire Department and Longwood Fire Department, responded to the fire.

The fire was put out and no one was injured, the fire department said. Fire officials said the fire caused well over $100,000 in damage.

Smoke could still be seen near scene of the fire around 9:15 a.m.

Crews blocked the northbound lanes of Ronald Regan Boulevard as they battled the blaze.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

"We have no idea what started the fire, don't even know exactly where it started," Ward said. "We're trying to get it safe so investigators can look into that."

No other details were available. Stay with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com for updates on this developing story.


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