Orange County Fl., What was already an eventful weekend became even more challenging when just before 6:30 a.m. Orange County Firefighters were dispatched to a building at the Orlando Business Center, located at 2200 North Forsyth Rd. Within 6 minutes, fire crews arrived finding gray turbulent smoke emitting from 50% of the units in a rear building. Knowing that storage type facilities have a heavy fire load, the Incident Commander immediately requested a 2nd alarm; adding a 2nd alarm augments manpower and essential equipment to the fire scene.

Orange County Firefighters worked diligently to contain the fire to the one building and kept it from spreading to other surrounding buildings. “The challenge to this fire was gaining entry into the individual storage units. Firefighters had to use saws to cut an opening on 14 metal doors of both the front and rear of units,” said Battalion Chief Mike Howell.

An aggressive fire attack enabled fire crews to contain the fire to one building. Two of the units and their contents had heavy fire damage; the remaining units and their contents sustained smoke damage.

The cause of the fire was not immediately identified; the State Fire Marshal’s Office will conduct an investigation.