Monday, June 9, 2008

Breaking News, Key West Fire (6/8/08)



As we were heading back into Key West from Stock Island after yesterday's sailing trip (see post below) we saw a huge cloud of black smoke in the distance. As we got closer, we speculated on what it was, and where it was coming from. (Had Karen left the toaster-broiler oven on?)

When we got into town, we saw that it was a building on White Street. A huge crowd had gathered to watch the firemen try to put it out. June is the time when the tourists have gone for a while, and you see people that you haven't seen for months.

The fire brought a crowd of people from the surrounding neighborhoods out of their air conditioning and away from their TVs. We saw dozens of people we recognized, including Bascom Grooms, current president of the KW Chamber of Commerce, whose real estate office, it turned out, was one of the places burning. An adjacent electronics shop and an exercise studio were also on fire.

The fire department stayed there all night, and today the area was cordoned off. No one was hurt. Our sympathies to those who lost businesses, and we hope that all of you will be able to recover soon.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the prevailing breezes Sunday evening, the smoke from that fire spread out as a smelly haze over a lot of Old Town. Even the tourists around Duval were commenting on it. A good reminder of how much we all affect each other on this Island....

Anonymous said...

Fire Marshall just stated (on Morning Magazine) that the fire started due to arcing on the 220 lines in the back part of the electronics repair shop. Also said the building will be condemed today -- I assume that means it'll have to be demolished and rebuilt from scratch.

Webmaster AKC 1 said...

Thank you for those updates. I read today that they are insured and will probably be OK.

Webmaster AKC 1 said...

Update and good news. All three businesses have now relocated, and are up and running!