A man was found dead after an early morning fire at an old paint and body shop. The shop is on Cervantes and J streets in Pensacola. Just before 4 a.m. Wednesday morning, a Pensacola Police officer drove by the old Jones Paint and Body shop, finding it fully engulfed in flames.
“A Pensacola police officer drove by on routine patrol, saw the building on fire, and notified the fire department,” Pensacola Police Officer Mike Wood said.
“Our crew got a call at 3:51 in the morning; our first-due truck was on scene at 3:55 in the morning, and we called it under control at 4:09 a.m.,” Fire Deputy Chief Justin Hoard said. It wasn’t until crews searched the building that they found a man dead inside.
Later in the morning, WEAR News watched as a woman arrived on the scene, telling police she owns the building. According to police, the owner said a family member was staying in the shop. The identity of the victim has not been released.
WEAR News was informed that the victim has been taken to the medical examiner for an autopsy. “From my understanding there were no utilities to that building,” Wood said. It had been abandoned for quite some time, but I do know that there was bedding inside and that sort of thing, which indicates somebody may have been staying in there overnight.”
Several others showed up to the scene as well. Neighbors say people are always coming in and out of the paint and body shop. “We were concerned that there could have been a second victim inside, and fortunately that was not the case,” Wood said.
