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Flea market fire damages several businesses
More than 20 trucks from the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department were deployed to battle the flames. JEA crews also responded, as well as officers from Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to control traffic in the area.
"This is a flea market. There is not a lot to do around here, but when the weekend comes, people live for the weekend, so when they come they want to enjoy the flea market, the food, come buy books from me or whatever is around," said Curtis Saffold of Bushkill.
The district fire chief said the fire appeared to be accidental in nature. He said the damage was contained to four units in the front. Most of the damage was from smoke.
"It's sad because I know these guys here and they've been out here a long time and this is their livelihood. This is what we do- trying to making a living just like everybody else," said Jerry Telly, a vendor at the flea market.
Telly remembers a similar fire back in April 2015 at the flea market on Pecan Park Road. In that fire the whole building was destroyed. Telly said he will definitely start looking into buying insurance.
"I wish the best, I hope any of those guys have some type of insurance," Telly said. "I'm going to go look into it tomorrow. I've never had insurance here, and I'm going to now. after the one on Pecan Park Rd, and now the one here."
Another vendor told News4Jax that not all of the stores were damaged.
"Fortunately my store is okay," vendor Terri Cavoli said. "I just remodeled it, and I've got a lot of merchandise in it. I was very concerned about it, but it makes me sad that anybody's store went up because we have a very cool treasure here, actually."
There have been multiple inspections since last year. No violations were found. In fact, the most recent was this past February, and it was specifically geared toward fire safety.
Other inspections were for the fire alarm, the fire extinguisher, and the suppression hood system. Again, no violations were found
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Two more men accused of selling counterfeit clothing at Wentzville Flea Market
ST. LOUIS • Two more men have been accused in federal court here of selling large quantities of counterfeit designer apparel at the Wentzville Flea market.
Adama Kane, 53, appeared in court Tuesday for a brief hearing. He and Aliou Kane, 50, were indicted last week on one felony count of trafficking in counterfeit goods along with Demba Ba.
Dama Kane, who works for a hotel near the airport, is accused of selling counterfeit Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton and other apparel at an outdoor shopping area in St. Charles County on May 7 that would be worth more than $250,000 if real.
Aliou Kane, who works for a taxi company, is accused of selling Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors and other apparel that would be worth more than $200,000 if real.
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