A fire yesterday morning caused extensive damage to a Venice body shop. Fire officials say the blaze caused heavy damage inside the shop, which is located in an industrial park off the US 41 Bypass. Units from Venice, Sarasota County and Nokomis took about 90 minutes to extinguish the flames, which sent smoke through the adjacent neighborhood and caused traffic to be rerouted for a time. Sarasota County fire officials are still investigating what caused the fire. There was a woodworking shop in the back of the building. It’s unclear yet whether the fire might have started there.
