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Blaze rips through storage site
GULFPORT — More than two dozen firefighters and 10 units battled a raging inferno on 34th Avenue just after lunch today.
The two-alarm blaze began inside a shed that was surrounded by thousands of wooden pallets on the old cotton compress property near 28th Street.
Fierce flames swallowed the building and two forklifts inside. Gas tanks were exploding several hundred feet into the air when the first GFD units arrived. Wicked winds fanned the flames and eventually the fire spread to the stacks of dry, wooden pallets.
While the cause is still under investigation, the fire likely began in a 50-gallon drum and quickly exploded into a massive blaze.
Two workers said they were burning trash in a drum on the property this morning. They knocked off for lunch and when they returned, the workers said they found the place smoldering.
It is against the law to burn trash in the City of Gulfport.
“This was a big fire and the winds out here could have made it a much more dangerous situation,” Chief Pat Sullivan said. “This fire was headed for the woods and for a church nearby, but our guys did a fantastic job of not letting it get away. They corralled it and made certain it stayed right here.”
No injuries were reported.
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Office of Public Information - rlafontaine@gulfport-ms.gov - Phone: 228-868-5782
P.O. Box 1780 Gulfport, MS 39502-1780 - FAX: 868-5800
