HIALEAH, Fla. – Flames erupted inside a Hialeah warehouse Sunday afternoon.
The fire started about 12:30 p.m. at the warehouse on Southeast Ninth Court.
"Our family's owned this property for almost 50 years and we've seen a couple fires on this street, but this one, it was just our turn this time," owner Mark Sims told Local 10 News.
Sims said he rents the warehouse to Bica Florida, a company that sells patio tables and chairs.
"Everything is gone," Ariel Castano said after returning to the business Monday morning.
Castano said he rented the warehouse to run his business with his wife and father. He said much of the furniture was imported from Italy.
"As in most warehouses, there's a lot of clutter," Hialeah Fire Department Capt. David Rodriguez said, noting that the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Firefighters spent about two hours extinguishing the flames.
Two neighboring warehouses -- one for personal storage and one for an art studio -- also had smoke and water damage.
"Our daughter is an artist and she had a lot of her artwork stored in here," Sims said.
While investigators try to find out what caused the fire, Castano is looking for a new building to run his family-owned business.
"I try to look at a new place because I have to continue," he said.
Sims said he was grateful that he was able to save his wife's wedding dress, preserved in a box. He said he's working to find the tenants a new place to operate until the warehouse can be repaired.
"We will get the permits to the city of Hialeah," Sims said. "As soon as we can get the drawings to them, we'll start rebuilding immediately."