JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After investigating at the scene for two days, the fire marshal said Wednesday that a fire that ripped through the Pecan Park flea market Monday night was likely not intentionally set.
The investigation won't be finished until test results from samples of fire debris come back. The fire marshal is hoping those results will help investigators determine the cause of the fire, which they believe started in the kitchen/cafeteria area of the flea market.
Hundreds of vendors still haven't been allowed back in to the flea market. Management allowed some vendors in to the market for about 15 minutes Tuesday to gather items that could spoil, like food.
A photo shows B row -- the middle of the structure -- was destroyed, with the ceiling collapsed and nothing but rubble remaining of the booths inside.
IMAGES: Fire rages at flea market
One of the vendors said he lost about $6,000 worth of collectible cars from the 1960s. All he has left are a $400, a little car worth about $125 and his business sign, which took home to clean last weekend after if fell in the dirt.
"This is the only thing I have left from my business. I lost everything," Sammy McCormick said.
He said the profits from his booth at the flea market were helping him pay for his
upcoming weight loss surgery. In the past eight months, he's lost 172 pounds.
"The weight loss surgery got me motivated to open up the business," McCormick said.
And the storefront was keeping him active. It was his first business, and he had only been open a month before the fire.
"Like I was telling everybody on Facebook, all the firefighters are safe. All the material can be replaced, so that's all that really matters," McCormick said.
Much of McCormick's material is already being replaced, thanks to the generosity of two strangers.
The couple pulled five boxes full of Hot Wheels out of their truck and gave them to McCormick.
"I saw it on TV -- the fire and everything -- and I decided I didn't need the Hot Wheels, and I asked my wife and she said sure we could do that," David Rogers said. "People should help each other instead of trying to make a buck off each other."
"It's always better to give back," Theresa Rogers said.
McCormick said their gift left him speechless.
"This is what it's all about -- community helping each other," he said.
"They were just sitting in the closet. We didn't know what to do with them," Theresa Rogers told McCormick.
"Thank you," McCormick said, as he hugged her.
Many of the vendors are still waiting for news about whether any of their belongings survived. They're also wondering if the flea market will be open this weekend.
Management plans to be open by Saturday and has said vendors who were burned out will be given space on the lawn outside to sell from. But if repairmen find any electrical problems, that could delay reopening the facility.
It took about 100 Jacksonville firefighters, 15 engines and six ladder trucks about two hours to get the raging fire under control. The flames -- some said 300 feet tall -- could be seen from Interstate 95, where motorists calling 911 sent first word of the fire.
The 30-year-old flea market is home to about 750 storefronts that sell clothes, food, and antiques and more.
Some vendors said they had between $10,000 and $20,000 worth of merchandise in their booths. Some of the vendors are retirees who had invested their future in the businesses, and most had no insurance.
This is not the first time that a fire has destroyed the flea market. On Sept. 25, 2006, 200 stores were damaged when another blaze ripped through the Northside flea market.