Flea market ‘family’ grieving after fire ; Vendors band together after blaze eats up about 130 stalls at Pecan Park

Despite the hustle and bustle of working weekends at Jacksonville's popular Pecan Park Flea & Farmers' Market, many vendors of Row B found the time to develop friendships so close they considered each other family.

Those ties helped many cope with having lost everything in a four- alarm fire Monday night that destroyed 60 small businesses as it raced through a football field-size row of the 100-acre spot off Interstate 95 just south of the Nassau County line.

Willie Wiley, who lost his $10,000 home-stereo business, sat on a market bench Tuesday morning and wrapped his big arms around Shanita James-McNealy and Emma Stamper as the two women grieved. James- McNealy sold body oils and incense, while Stamper made diaper cakes for new mothers.

Like most of their fellow vendors, the trio did not have insurance. Wiley said he "had tears on my pillow" after learning about the fire Monday night, but felt better being around his market mates Tuesday.

"It eases the pain," Wiley said, "just to know that I'm not alone."

James-McNealy and Stamper said they lost about $10,000 each. Like Wiley, they used the money to supplement their regular income and were uncertain how they would make up those earnings.

"It's like a piece of me is gone," said James-McNealy, in her early 40s.

"It would take me months and months to even start to recover," said Stamper, 62,

More than 100 firefighters needed two hours to control the NorthsidePecan Park Road. The origin and cause have not been determined. No injuries occurred.

The fire was first reported by a fire alarm at 10:17 p.m. and moments later by highway motorists who saw the smoke and flames engulfing most of the market's 300-foot-long middle row, said Tom Francis, senior spokesman for the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.

Firefighters kept the flames from burning the market's two other rows. Among the many challenges faced by firefighters in the middle row was the need to cut through the roll-down metal security doors for each booth to get to any fire that was inside, Francis said.

"It was an unbelievably heavy fire load, just the untold number of products and flammable combustible items ranging from lithium batteries to propane tanks to paper and wood products," Francis said.

The flea market's rows - designated A, B and C - house about 460 stalls owned by 174 vendors.

About 130 of the 156 stalls in the middle row were wiped out, with the rest saved by a north-end fire wall. The destroyed stalls were owned by 60 vendors, some of whom owned multiple stalls, said John Heidecker, the market's general manager.

The state Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the blaze, which started somewhere at or near the food court in the middle of the row, Heidecker said.

A loss estimate hasn't been determined, but it could run in the millions of dollars in vendor property and the market's structure. The market's owners had insurance on the building, unlike the vendors.

Heidecker said the market's owners hope to have the spared rows open by the weekend, with the damaged row sealed off. He said there are no immediate plans for what to do with the ruins. Another fire at the flea market in 2006 damaged about 200 booths. The market opened in 1986.

James-McNealy and Stamper, Row B neighbors for a little more than two years, have grown so close they check on each other when they're sick. That bond helped them cope as they and other vendors gathered at the market to hear more details about the fire and the market's future.

"I sent my husband home once I found her," Stamper said.

The women laughed. They said they'd run out of tears.Jim Schoettler: (904) 359-4385