More than a day after a fire destroyed Furniture Plus in Jacksonville, neighboring business owners are now dealing with the aftermath.
As crews continue working through hot spots and investigators search for a cause, some businesses are closed or forced to work remotely.
For businesses next to Furniture Plus, Thursday morning didn’t start inside their offices.
We are small businesses here,” a neighboring employee said. “All of us, even if we can’t get access to our building, we still have to work.
Furniture Plus on N. Marine Blvd burned down Wednesday, and Thursday, neighboring businesses were unable to get back to work as usual.
“I mean the whole sky was pitch black. It was so bad.”
The building next door is just a few feet away.
“I was with a client at the time,” a second neighboring employee recalled. “We looked out at the back and smoke was coming out of the top of the building right behind us. Very thankful that the fire didn’t spread.”
Five firefighters were injured battling the flames. Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Chief Edward Tallman says one of them is still undergoing treatment.
We have talked to him and he says he’s feeling better.
Chief Tallman says a partial roof collapse made it difficult to reach remaining hot spots and continue the investigation.
“The investigation started right away on scene and then the State Fire Marshal, SBI will go through it during the light of day.”
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Meanwhile, the neighboring businesses will work remotely for the foreseeable future.