LAUDERHILL, Fla. – A fire erupted Monday at the Swap Shop & Thunderbird Drive-in Theater in Lauderhill.
Sky 10 was above the scene just before noon as firefighters were working to extinguish the flames on a movie theater screen in the 3200 block of West Sunrise Boulevard.
The fire fight focused on screen number 5.
“First units on scene, again, found heavy smoke and flames coming from it,” Lauderhill Fire Rescue Div. Chief Jerry Gonzalez said.
The storage facility right under the screen is what made the fire fight a bit more challenging.
“It’s where it appears the fire might have started, and there is a lot of combustible material in there -- clothing, wood, a lot of accelerants, as well, so it’s been a battle for the firefighters to try and get this fire under control,” Gonzalez said.
So in addition to dousing the fire from multiple trucks, firefighters brought in a backhoe to dismantle the storage facility and get to the root of the fire.
They said they did find some combustible material inside.
“It helps to see where it’s at,” Gonzalez said. “It separates the combustible material and gets better access, so we can get water on the seat of the fire.”
The storage sheds are typically rented by vendors who work at the Swap Shop.
Firefighters say they were concerned not just for the movie screen and the storage shed, but also for the students at Larkdale Elementary School, which sits right behind the fire.
Luckily, no injuries have been reported.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.