VP: Phantom Fireworks vows to rebuild in West Melbourne after fiery crash destroys store
Phantom Fireworks officials hope to rebuild their profitable West Melbourne store in time for the summer season after an out-of-control vehicle ignited a blaze that devastated the structure and left the driver dead.
West Melbourne resident John Marcano, 53, drove a Dodge Durango through the front glass wall of the fireworks store Monday afternoon, the Florida Highway Patrol reported — sparking a fire that shut down U.S. 192 traffic for hours and sent Roman candles and mortars dangerously rocketing across the property. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
William Weimer, Phantom Fireworks vice president and general counsel, offered his condolences to Marcano's family. Asked if a similar incident had ever occurred at Phantom Fireworks, he replied, "we've never experienced anything like this."
“We were just lucky there were no customers in the store at that moment,” Weimer said .
“Imagine what it would have been had there been half a dozen shopping groups walking around the showroom. It would have been a disaster," he said.
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FHP continues to investigate the fiery fatal crash. Thirty firefighters from Brevard County Fire Rescue, Melbourne, Palm Bay and the Four Communities Volunteer Fire Department eventually extinguished the blaze, but flames had already torn through the roof and blackened the building's contents.
Troopers said Marcano was driving a 2017 Dodge Durango south on John Rodes Boulevard when he rear-ended a 2006 Toyota Tacoma driven by a 39-year-old West Melbourne woman.
The Durango pushed the Tacoma through the U.S. 192 intersection into the Phantom Fireworks parking lot, where the Tacoma driver began turning left — but the Durango kept going and smashed through the building's glass front wall, an FHP press release said.
The sport utility vehicle became engulfed in flames as fireworks ignited. The 39-year-old West Melbourne woman was not injured.
Headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio, Phantom Fireworks generates the bulk of its revenues from 82 brick-and-mortar stores in 15 states, Weimer said.
The chain also operates a temporary-sales division, which runs fireworks tents and stands in about 18 states, and a chain-store division that sells products to retailers and big-box stores.
Weimer said his company will open another fireworks showroom in West Melbourne.
"We've got to go through the insurance adjusting process, and we will rebuild. Whether it's on that exact location or not. I don't know. But we will definitely rebuild," Weimer said.
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Weimer said two Phantom Fireworks employees were working in an office at the back of the building when the crash occurred. Both escaped injury.
“They didn't see what happened. They just heard the crash. And the manager said, ‘I don't know what that was — but we're getting out of this building.’ And they just immediately exited through the back door,” Weimer said.
Weimer cited a similar crash in November 2021 when an out-of-control SUV plowed into a rear loading area of a Phantom Fireworks store in Evanston, Wyoming. He said the driver, a woman who suffered a medical episode, did not survive. That crash did not spark a building fire.
In a statement, the company said all of its fireworks products are tested by the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory.
"The products sold at Phantom Fireworks showrooms are consumer grade fireworks that contain limited amounts of pyrotechnic composition ensuring that the products combust rather than explode upon detonation," the statement said.
The 5,573-square-foot Phantom Fireworks at 4433 W. New Haven Ave. in West Melbourne was a former restaurant that was built in 1989, property records show.
Weimer said the store had four full-time employees when Monday's crash occurred, but the roster swelled to 40 to 50 seasonal workers during the weeks leading up to the Fourth of July.
Yellow police tape ringed the scorched structure Wednesday. Weimer said the property will be fenced soon.
West Melbourne resident Alyssa Peterson and her husband were getting gas at Cumberland Farms at the John Rodes Boulevard-U.S. 192 intersection when she heard screeching tires. After the Durango plunged into the showroom, she dialed 911 and watched fireworks start spraying in all directions as orange flames quickly spread.
"It was something you would never expect. I mean, it was just unbelievable that it would go into that building. But then immediately you started hearing sparks — and then it just ignited, instantly," Peterson said.
"There was no time for anyone to even go in and save them. So I was visibly upset. I was shaking and just really upset for that person," she said.
"And then also, I didn't know if there were customers in there, or employees. It was definitely emotional," she said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Phantom Fireworks to rebuild West Melbourne store after deadly fire
