At approximately 12:52 a.m. a security guard on duty at the facility heard a
boom and then noticed flames near the rear of the facility. He placed a call to 911 to
report the fire at 12:52 a.m., but he was not confident of which building was burning; he
paused during the call to look up the facility's address. After placing the call, the tele -
phone line went dead; the security guard then left the guard shack to awake the facility's
owner, whose home was located across the canal to the northwest of the complex.
A second call reporting the fire came in to the 911 center at 12:54 a.m. The
caller described hearing explosions and observing sparks and flames threatening homes
located on the south side of the facility.
The occupant of a mobile home located across the canal at the west end of the
property was awoken shortly before 1:00 a.m. by loud popping noises. Looking out his
bedroom window, he saw flames coming from the southwest corner of Building A.
After waking his roommate, the witness attempted to call 911, but the telephone line
was dead. As he went to awaken the facility's owner, who lived just north of the trailer,
he noticed a fire smoldering on the wooden docks adjoining the property.
Two witnesses on a boat moored at the marina directly north across the New
River from the facility noticed flames on the west wall of the manufacturing building.
They watched as the fire quickly spread towards the east.
A resident who lived in a home across Southwest 20th Street from the boatyard
awoke to bright orange light flooding her bedroom. She watched as the fire quickly
grew in size, reporting popping noises and flying embers.
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