ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County Fire Rescue battled a two-alarm fire not far from the Florida Mall early Tuesday morning.
Firefighters said a vacant condo complex caught fire at about 3:30 a.m. at 1851 West Landstreet Road.
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They said the condo had heavy fire on the first, second and third floors, with a partial collapse.
“The toughest part is the placement of the units. It’s tight back there,” said Martis Mack, assistant chief of Orange County Fire Rescue. “We couldn’t get our streams close enough.”
So, they brought out their ladder trucks.
Photos from the scene of the 2nd alarm fire this morning in Blossom Park. PIO en route soon. https://t.co/HNBaBUWTB7 pic.twitter.com/zP7e2Ayv6p
— OCFire Rescue (@OCFireRescue) March 2, 2021
The building is located behind the Massey Cadillac dealership, which is four blocks from the Florida Mall.
Eyewitness News learned shortly after arriving on scene that fire was tearing through the defunct Blossom Park condominiums.
The troubled complex has made news before, including a 2015 heroin raid by Orange County sheriff’s deputies.
READ: Blossom Park condo complex continues to sit in ruins
The county condemned the building and cut the power and water off years ago.
Terry Crandall was walking in the area when he noticed the large fire Tuesday morning.
“I didn’t see anybody screaming,” he said. “I just saw all the flames, I heard all the sparks and stuff flying.”
Crandall shared cell phone video with WFTV’s Q McCray.
Here’s some cellphone video we just got from a witness. He says he saw the vacant hotel building collapsing. Watch @WFTV for more. https://t.co/5QMzN0ITD2 pic.twitter.com/6CFyLtnOLu
— Q McCray (@QMcCrayWFTV) March 2, 2021
“Hats off to our crew,” Mack said. “They’ve been doing area visits here doing surveys of this site. So the first arriving crews knew exactly where the hydrants were on the outside. There were no working hydrants on the inside.”
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The car dealership wasn’t damaged.
According to firefighters, no one was hurt.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
See video of the scene below:
See map of scene:
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