A July 4 fire demolished a building at Ralph Santore and Sons, the long-standing fireworks manufacturing company on County Road 305 in West Flagler. No one was hurt, and no one was in the large compound at the time.
Both Ralph Santore and R.J. Santore, president and vice president of the company, were in Orlando, preparing to attend a fireworks show at a theme park that uses Santore products, when an employee reached them to tell them of the fire, R.J. Santore said this morning.
The fire affected only one of numerous buildings, shipping containers and manufactured structures on the 18-acre property. The structures stand separated one from the other by large spaces.
“Upon arrival, I observed a building in the center of the complex was engulfed in flames,” a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy wrote in an incident report. The deputy was dispatched to the scene at 2:16 p.m. when a structure fire was called into the 911 dispatch center.
Deputies closed County Road 305 to traffic and Flagler County Fire Rescue, assisted by the Palm Coast Fire Department, was soon at the scene, extinguishing the fire.
The 20-by-20 building was built of cinder block and contained “mostly paper goods,” including water-based gummed tape and lots of virgin craft paper. There were some partially assembled pyrotechnics, but no actual fireworks in the building, Santore said, though the loss is substantial. A monetary value has not yet been estimated. Obviously, all the July 4 orders had been shipped to their destinations.
“I have no clue how this could have happened, but there were reports of lightning in the area,” Santore said, speaking to a reporter at the compound this morning. “The building is a total loss.”
The company had positioned a company van and a box truck on the east side of the building, to a least partially block its view from the road. The partly caved in roof and blackened sides of the building were still visible. A significantly larger warehouse in back of the cinderblock building was not affected.
“The fire did not spread and all the safety measures worked as intended,” Santore said.
The state fire marshal is investigating. “I imagine it will take three or four days before they have any kind of feedback for us,” Flagler County Fire Chief Michael Tucker said. “There were some storms rolling in, so that is a possibility, one of the things we’re looking at.” He added: “We do not believe any kind of foul play was involved at all. One of the things about Santore is they’ve been a great company. Their safety practices have been really good.”
The Santore property extends over 18 acres along County Road 305 just south of Clove Avenue in Daytona North. Santore has been in business in Flagler County since 1974, and in business in the United States since 1890, starting in New Jersey after a forefather of R.J. Santore migrated from Italy.
The company’s 30-some employees had the day off today, but are expected to return to work on Tuesday, Santore said.
Santore, a Flagler Beach resident elected to the City Commission last March, said the company has never lost a building to any kind of incident.
Late in the afternoon of July 4, Flagler County Commissioner Scott Spradley found it necessary to publish a “Rumor Control” post on his Facebook page. “Yes, there was a fire which led to an explosion this afternoon at Santore Fireworks, with at least one building sustaining extensive damage,” Spradley wrote. “Despite what has been reported on social media, there were no deaths and not even any injuries as the site was vacant. Source: My friend and colleague, R.J. Santore, who I am sure appreciates your concern, but who appreciates accurate information on this.”
Santore today said it is not known whether there was an explosion (a lightning strike may have been mistaken for one). The Sheriff’s Office contacted the ATF–the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives–but the federal agency did not see the need to respond to the incident. ATF responds to incidents where there is a theft or an actual loss of pyrotechnics, Santore said.
He was appreciative of the rapid response by the fire services (Fire Rescue responded from its station in Espanola, among other stations, as its new station up the road on 305 is still under construction). “We appreciate the community’s support and concern,” Santore said.
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