We had had a busy night Saturday in Dispatch with lots of calls for service as one would expect on a weekend during Spring Break. Sunday night started out quietly enough until we hit ten o'clock and we got word of smoke and flames seen on the 500 block of Duval. The best known landmark there is Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Cafe and a few doors down is the magnificent San Carlos Theater.
It appears the fire was centered between them at the crepe shop and two art galleries between them and has caused a lot of damage to those businesses but spared Margaritaville and the San Carlos. I went down to check it out after my shift was over.
Police closed several blocks of Duval and evacuated neighboring restaurants and let the firefighters do their thing. It wasn't just city fire, there were military firefighters and officers from the airport to help out as well and apparently it was quite spectacular with smoke all over downtown.
I wonder if we will get our Breton Crepes back? Especially in an economic environment like this one. One firefighter got checked by rescue on scene but no one else was hurt, and by one a.m. things seemed to be levelling off at the scene.
It is an unfortunate fact of life in a town with narrow streets and well seasoned wood buildings one needs a well organized fire department. The last big fire on Duval was when the old Copa Club burned down in August 1995. Tonight was a really strong reminder of how much we depend on our firefighters in this town.
Budget cuts be damned.
7 comments:
Dear Sir:
My father was a professional fire fighter for 33 years, retiring as a Battalion Chief in Jersey City, a place that really knows how to burn. He used to say, "The next time you're stuck inside a burning building, consider what you'd pay for the guy on the ladder outside to come in and get you."
I'm glad the two landmarks were spared, and better still, that no one was seriously injured.
Speaking of spring break...
Fondest regards,
Jack
Twisted Roads
Hats off to the KWFD (and their "assistants" in the Navy FD). Our Fire Department is in the top 10% rating in their certification criteria. Not only does it save us from fires like this, that rating also saves us all on our insurance bills.
Too bad about those 3 businesses that are wiped out. The Crepery place has been really popular, and those interesting signs in Montage always made good souveniers for the tourists. The "signed photos" place also may have lost some irreplacable signatures of some interesting people. Three of the more interesting places on Duval all packed into that small space, but now gone....
I hope that nice quebecana can get her creperÃa back up and running again. My daughter & I always enjoy a splendid nosh on crepes with strawberries and Nutella when we're there. Damn, that's a shame. Thank God no one was hurt, though.
thanks for the thumbs up, we worked our @$$ off. everyone was fine no injuries.
I got so creeped out by the fire that when we had a fire alarm only the next night at some other location, instead of cancelling the police response call I sent a (surprised) officer to check it out as well just in case. I hope that was a once in a decade fire.
What? No drunken tourists with marshmallows? Don't let my acid dipped arrow stab take away from the seriousness of the fire. I sincerely hope those affected can rise from the flames again.
Sorry to hear about this fire but am glad to see no one was hurt. We posted a little tribute to Key West in light of the fire and Gold Man's death on our ILoveVWBuses.com site. Just some pics of VW Buses in Key West that we took the last few times were were there. But buses make people happy, so that was our way to spread the love.
Keep up the great work on your blog... its nice to have this connection to paradise!
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