5-23-10 3-alarm arson fire

This is an UPDATED Tampa Fire Rescue Public Information Report for Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 2120 hrs.

UPDATED INFO:
The Tampa Fire Marshals Office has stated the fire cause is arson. The fire was started on the outside of the vacant house at 1521 E 17th Avenue. Fire losses are estimated to be 75,000 dollars for 1521 E 17th Ave and at least 150,000 dollars in losses for 1519 E 17th Avenue. This fire will be investigated as a being possibly connected to a string of twenty-two suspicious or arson fires in the V.M. Ybor area since January 2009.

Anyone with information about these arson fires is encouraged to call the Tampa Fire Marshals office at 813-274-7133 or leave a tip on-line at www.tampagov.net/fire or call the Florida Advisory Committee on Arson Prevention, FACAP, at 1-877-NO-ARSON (1-877-662-7766).

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On 5/23/10 at 1632 hrs TFR units responded to a reported house fire in the 1500 block of E. 17th Avenue. On scene at 1637 hrs fire crews reported smoke and flames involving 2 single story wood framed houses. A nearby business was also threatened. The fire went to three-alarms; it was contained by 1800 hrs and declared under control about 1840 hrs.

In addition to the smoke and flames the fire crews also battled the afternoon heat. One firefighter was transported to a local hospital for heat exhaustion and another for a back injury. Neither case is life threatening.

Investigators from the Tampa Fire Marshals Office and State Fire Marshals Office are on scene. Here is what is known so far.

The wood-framed buildings that burnt are 1521 and 1519 E 17th Avenue. They are separated by only a couple of feet of space. The business that was threatened was Tommys Wholesale at 1517 E 17th Avenue. Tommys is a fresh fruit distributor.

1521 is vacant unoccupied. 1519 at first appeared boarded up and vacant but it is used by Tommys as offices and there are also refrigeration units for the fruit. 1519 & 1521 are heavily damaged. No loss estimate has yet been determined.

Tommys main building had some minor smoke damage on the outside but fire crews saved the building from serious damage.

At this time investigators are working to determine where and how the fire started.

TFR responded to this three-alarm fire with 10 fire engines, 2 ladder trucks, 5 rescue cars and several chief officers. The large numbers of fire crews were needed to have fresh crews on hand so that personnel could be rotated out of the heat frequently. An estimated 60 responders, about half of the total number of on-duty Tampa firefighters, were on scene from fire stations in Ybor City, Robles Park, Jackson Heights, Palmetto Beach, Belmont Heights, Downtown, East Tampa, Hyde Park, West Tampa, Palma Ceia and South of Gandy.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• arson
• fire