Fire engulfs buildings on Packinghouse Road in Sarasota

Roughly 80 firefighters responded to a six-alarm fire at a warehouse southeast of Cattlemen Road and Palmer Boulevard this morning.

Just before 5 a.m., the Sarasota County Fire Department responded to a call about a structure fire behind JR’s Old Packinghouse Cafe, according to social media posts by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, which had established a unified command with SCFD. Emergency personnel did not report any injuries.

Palmer Boulevard, between Porter Road and Cattlemen Road remains shut down this evening, as is most of Packinghouse Road.

The fire was mainly contained to the Old Packinghouse warehouse, which contains some businesses and leftover relics from its use when the Celery Fields was an active agricultural area, according to Fire Chief Mike Regnier. JR’s Old Packinghouse Cafe is still intact, yet has taken some damage.

“We have the fire contained to the area that was on fire,” Regnier said. “We don’t anticipate (it) spreading to any other structure in the immediate area.”

More information will be added to this breaking news story as it becomes available.