DANIA BEACH, Fla. – Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue crews battled “a very hot and intense blaze” at a Dania Beach trucking facility Friday morning that destroyed at least five tractor-trailers, an agency spokesperson said.
But officials said the outcome of the “large-scale fire” could have been significantly worse.
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The fire broke out at around 4:30 a.m. in the parking lot of T&M Truck & Trailer, located at 2490 SW 32nd St., about a half-mile northwest of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Battalion Chief Michael Kane, a BSFR spokesperson, said firefighters arrived to find multiple trucks engulfed in heavy flames.
A total of 45 firefighters eventually responded, he said, and had to battle the blaze under the threat of it spreading to the business itself. Its buildings were in close proximity to the burning semis.
After an hour-long firefight, Kane said crews were able to keep the business itself from catching fire.
“Fighting this specific fire wasn’t easy,” he said in an email to South Florida news outlets. “It was made extraordinarily difficult by the heavy load of diesel fuel inside the vehicles’ fuel tanks as well as the confinement of the fire between two buildings, making this a very hot and intense blaze.”
Medics took one firefighter to the hospital with a minor back injury.
Kane said the state fire marshal’s office is investigating.