A fire at a plant nursery in Florida sent flames and smoke into the sky

KISSIMMEE, Florida (AP) — A major fire broke out at a kindergarten in central Florida Thursday morning, burning thousands of plastic pots, sending flames and thick black smoke into the air.

Authorities told news outlets that the fire broke out around 2 a.m. at Nursery Supplies Inc. in Kissimmee, which is south of Orlando in central Florida.

Hazmat crews from Osceola County and nearby Orange County monitored air quality in the area. There were no orders to evacuate nearby homes or businesses. Nearly 2 acres (0.81 ha) of pallets of two-gallon plastic plant pots caught fire, some of which were stacked up to 10 feet (3 meters) high. The pallets at the children’s outlet were outside and firefighters were trying to protect the outlet building from the fire.

“There are hundreds of these pallets, and that’s the root of the problem,” Osceola County Deputy Fire and Rescue Chief John Haskett said early Thursday.

Video footage from Orlando TV stations shows flames and thick black smoke billowing into the air.

“We slowed down the progress of this fire,” Haskett said. “But because of the floor space it consumes and the product, it just gave us a lot of problems.”

Fire officials did not immediately know the cause of the fire, Haskett said, but an investigation would begin once the fire was brought under control.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.