A big emergency late Monday afternoon in West Melbourne, when a vehicle slammed into Phantom Fireworks at the intersection of US-192 and John Rodes Boulevard, and the crash ignited a furious and fast burning blaze… shutting down roads there, near I-95, for the afternoon rush hour. When firefighters arrived, the flames were shooting into the air, as were the fireworks! After the fire was put out, the body of the driver of the SUV… a 53 year old West Melbourne man… who slammed through the glass front wall of the store, igniting the inferno, was pulled from the rubble. The name of that man has not been released. Everyone working in the store was able to get out safely. The building is a total loss. The investigation into exactly what happened, is continuing.
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A fireworks store in West Melbourne went up in flames Monday afternoon. It all began around 4pm when an SUV crashed into another vehicle at teh intersection of John Rodes Boulevard and West New Haven Avenue… or US 192… pushing both vehicles into the parking lot of Phantom Fireworks. The SUV then continued on into the glass front of the store, sparking a fire that sent plumes of flame and smoke into the sky, and fireworks shooting off in all directions. The driver of the SUV, said to be a 53 year old man from West Melbourne, was pronounced dead at the scene. US-192 near the intersection of Interstate 95, was shut down for several hours during the evening rush hour. There were two workers inside the store at the time, and both of them were able to escape safely. Nobody else was hurt. The investigation remains ongoing.