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Orlando officials say 3 fires have occurred at building near Camping World Stadium

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Updated  August 3, 2023 8:12pm EDT
Orange County
FOX 35 Orlando

Fire breaks out near Camping World stadium

Officials said three fires have taken place at the same business near Camping World Stadium.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Investigators are attempting to determine the cause of a fire at an abandoned auto body shop in Orlando on Wednesday night, just blocks from Camping World Stadium. 

It's the third time a fire has occurred at the site located on Pine St. and occurred as thousands were leaving the area after attending a soccer match at the sports venue.

"It was pretty big. The smoke started filling up. I thought it was a BBQ at first," Brandon Horgeshimer. "It blocked off a couple of exits from the parking lots, but it was still a mess to get out of there. A lot of people were concerned about their vehicles."

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said the Orlando Fire Department and Orlando Police Department responded immediately, 

"OPD and OFD did a very good job making sure people were safe as they were leaving the stadium," he said.

The roof of the building caved in during the fire.  Around this area, there are other businesses where workers said it’s not the first time a blaze has erupted at that location.

Drone video: Orlando building fire aftermath

FOX 35's SkyFOX Drone hovered over an abandoned building that caught fire Wednesday night near Camping World Stadium to get a look at the fire's aftermath. The cause of the fire remains unknown, but officials said the building was abandoned or vacant.

OFD confirmed there were two previous fires there, one of which is said to have happened in March.

"It was terrible. We were all working," said nearby business owner Eric Gomez. 

He said weeks after that another fire occurred and rescuers arrived.  

"You can’t run over their hoses, that’s why we couldn’t leave," explained worker Jack Hankin.

According to firefighters, this is an abandoned building frequented by squatters. The causes of the two previous fires are still under investigation. 

"Homeless living in there. Nothing was done. Really, they investigated," worker William Walker said.

"I’m worried more about my neighbors," Gomez added.

A city spokesperson said the owner of the building had a previous code violation for not securing the property, but he fixed it in April. We tried talking to the owner, but he drove away from us.