LAUDERHILL, Fla. – A fire erupted early Tuesday morning at the Swap Shop in Lauderhill.
According to Jeffrey Levy, Deputy Fire Chief of the Lauderhill Fire Department, the fire was reported around 4 a.m. by multiple people who saw heavy smoke coming from the Swap Shop, located at 3291 W. Sunrise Blvd.
Video taken at the scene shows heavy flames coming from near vendor booths at the flea market.
Levy confirmed that multiple containers outside the flea market area were on fire when crews arrived and the flames were spreading to a canopy.
“Fortunately, within 15-20 minutes, crews were able to get into the containers and put enough water on it to knock the fire out and prevent it from spreading to other areas of the Swap Shop,” he said.
According to Levy, the containers are rented by the owners of different booths at the flea market, and officials initially believed that something inside a container caught fire.
“There are three containers that burnt -- they are interconnected -- they have a lot of materials inside them,” he said. “Firefighters are working to remove all the materials inside the containers. From a quick glance, it looks like there is clothing, housing materials.”
Security at the flea market and responding police officers reported hearing explosion sounds, leading them to believe there were fireworks inside one of the containers, however fire rescue officials later confirmed that the sound was coming from aerosol cans that were exploding due to the heat.
Officials said they later confirmed that a candle or some incense had been left unattended, and that’s what they believe caused the fire.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue and the Sunrise Fire Department assisted with extinguishing the blaze.
The Swap Shop is the largest drive-in theater and daily flea market in the world, and Tuesday’s fire destroyed at least one vendor’s shop space.
“We don’t know if they’re gonna an open or close, but the vendors are in line -- long lines of people waiting to get in,” customer Lynn Cooper told Local 10 News. “I’m sure they’re not gonna open if it’s a hazard to the people, but you could smell the smoke.”
Sky 10 captured video of investigators using an excavator to dig through the charred debris before they determined that a candle or incense left burning overnight was the likely cause of the fire.
“Fighting fires -- whether it’s winter, spring, summer, or fall -- it’s always a big challenge, no matter what,” Levy said. “Obviously the South Florida weather that we’ve been experiencing lately, with the heat indexes, does play a huge part.”