Cause Of Massive Strip Mall Blaze A Mystery
HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) – Investigators have not been able to enter a strip mall in Hollywood after a massive fire Monday rendered much of the building structurally unsound due in part to a partially collapsed roof.
"What we are trying to do is get bigger equipment to try to get the roof removed so that we can actually get in and start doing further investigation," said Hollywood Fire Rescue Chief Eric Busenbarrick.
The cause of the fire, which started at around 1:45 p.m. on the north end of the West Hollywood Shopping Center on SR 441 at Hollywood Boulevard, has yet to be determined.
"I thought I heard a big loud explosion, I didn't know what was going on," said Ken Ritchie. "It was like somebody exploded a bomb."
The fire started inside an Asian supermarket and then spread to several more businesses including a Pet Supermarket and a Jamaican restaurant whose owner was inside.
"I was just coming in the building," said Radhica Venasrie, "So when I smelled smoke I just ran out of the building."
The fire spread quickly and grew due to accelerants in the different businesses, according to Hollywood Fire Rescue Chief Chris Del Campo.
After the initial firefight, crews got the blaze under control. However, sometime late in the afternoon the fire flared back up – fueled by flammable material stored in an unoccupied business.
"It was a very heavy fire load, as we would say. There was a lot of flammable pieces of equipment in storage which gave the fire a lot of fuel to work off it. It made it very difficult to try to control," Del Campo explained.
Fire crews stayed on scene and through Tuesday morning spraying down hot spots.
According to Hollywood Fire, at least seven businesses were damaged or destroyed, but everyone made it out unscathed.
