Aurora Starchild
Quite a few Melbourne, Florida residents who were doing their late afternoon errands evidently got an unpleasant surprise. An SUV crashed into a local fireworks store called Phantom Fireworks last week. A worst-case scenario seemed to occur as the entire building went up in flames due to its inventory exploding.
Videos by Rare
Cars Continued Driving By the Exploding Fireworks Store
According to Florida Highway Patrol, the driver of the SUV died after rear-ending a pickup truck. The SUV continued to propel forward, crashing into the Phantom Fireworks store on W. New Haven Avenue. Multiple fire departments were dispatched to combat the “heavy and rapidly deteriorating fire conditions with heavy involvement of the fireworks” while witnesses looked on in horror.
Numerous onlookers accordingly stopped and immediately pulled out their cameras. One woman, Alyssa Peterson, appeared to be at a gas station across the street near the start of the disaster. Her video, which was posted to Facebook and reposted by a local news station, shows the building before smoke starts engulfing the area.
“Oh my gosh, this car just freaking drove into the fireworks place. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, holy cow,” says Alyssa. She expresses dire concern for the people in the building and tries to call 911 but says she can’t get through to anyone. Across the way, cars are still speeding by the store as random fireworks are exploding in the background, coming out of the building.
One Woman Stopped Driving to Film
Another video was posted to Facebook by a woman named Candy Tout Turner. It appears that she’s in her vehicle, which is stopped at an intersection. She’s stunned, as anyone would be.
“A car just drove into the fireworks store, and it is going to explode,” says Turner. “Oh my god. Holy crackers and cheese. Oh my god, I hope the car was okay.” Cars continue driving in front of Phantom Fireworks, as if nothing is happening.
A third video posted by Brevard County Fire Rescue shows a much closer view of the building. It’s completely engulfed in flames and yet fireworks are continuing to explode throughout the inferno.
The crash is still under investigation and the driver of the pickup truck was reported to be unharmed.
As they say, “Only in Florida.”
