Fire at Pembroke Park leaves wetsuit manufacturer, other businesses reeling
MIAMI - Several businesses in a Pembroke Park business complex were working Wednesday to recover after a fire gutted their building, including a long-time maker of wetsuits housed at the location.
No injuries were reported during the blaze, the cause of which is still under investigation.
The fire has left many firms in the building reeling.
"I just got a shipment that I probably waited four months for because everything is difficult to get these days," said Connie Sonnabend, who runs Wetwear, a company that makes custom wetsuits. "I just started smelling something."
Sonnabend said she was there when the flames broke out, and she initially tried to determine if something was burning.
"Then I went into my business and I walked in (and) then I really smelt it," she said. "Then I looked up and I just saw smoke pouring in, and I . . . ran out and called 911."
Now, she's trying to salvage what she can.
"We don't know what conditions our sewing machines are in so we have to pray that those are good," she said. "Because they're important."
An initial review shows that the company's supply of wetsuits are undamaged, but she's worried about the equipment that has allowed the business to keep going for 46 years.
"I just had someone call and say, "Can I come buy and pick my suit up?'" she said.
As a small manufacturing company, Sonnabend said it was already hard to compete. The blaze will now make it harder to hang on.
"We help our customers maintain their suits," she said. "I mean we're just a special business."
Now she's looking to raise money to replace lost items and materials.
