Tropical Sunset gift shop in Fort Myers Beach damaged by fire

Reporter: Asha Patel Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published: Updated:
Tropical Sunset gift shop in Fort Myers Beach after a fire damaged its roof, Thursday, July 14, 2022. Credit: WINK News

Flames burned through the roof of the Tropical Sunset gift shop in Fort Myers Beach early Thursday morning.

According to the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District, the t-shirt and gift store, located at 161 Old San Carlos Blvd. across from Times Square, suffered an accidental electrical fire around 1:30 a.m. Caution tape now wraps around the entire store, where most of the damage was done to the roof.

Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief Ron Martin says firefighters were able to contain the blaze quickly. Fire crews from Fort Myers Beach, Iona and Bonita Beach all arrived at the scene. There were no reported injuries.

Tropical Sunset gift shop in Fort Myers Beach after a fire damaged its roof, Thursday, July 14, 2022. Credit: WINK News

“Upon our crews’ arrival, we had low-level to moderate fire conditions,” Martin said. “Our crews were quickly able to confine the fire to the outside of the structure.”

“The crews did a remarkable job,” Martin said. “This could have been a… potential large economic loss, with the stores that are connected to the structure that was involved in the fire.”

The Tropical Sunset gift shop across from Times Square in Fort Myers Beach went up in flames early Thursday morning. 
Firefighters clean up after extinguishing a fire at the Tropical Sunset gift shop in Fort Myers Beach, Thursday, July 14, 2022. Credit: WINK News

WINK News arrived at around 3:15 a.m., by which time there were no flames or smoke.

The owner of Tropical Sunset says this is a tragic situation for a family-owned store that opened back in 1975. The owner of South Seas Trader, a neighboring store, says that while her store was not damaged, the smell of smoke from the fire is present on some of the products.

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