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Tampa Apartments Burn

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By Valerie Kalfrin and Mike Wells of The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 29, 2007

Updated: 11/29/2007 10:07 pm

Video From The Scene | Map | Photos

TAMPA - A three-alarm blaze at an apartment complex Thursday forced 43 residents from their homes, county officials said.

No one was hurt.

The fire at the Lakeshore Club apartments, formerly known as Carlton Arms, erupted shortly before 8 a.m. inside Building 27 and ripped through the common attic and roof, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Capt. Bruce Delk said. He said the fire began with some electronics in a first-floor apartment.

Delk said the building was a total loss, with damages estimated at up to $800,000 and personal property losses at $100,000.

Fire walls separated the 12-unit structure into three clusters of apartments, but this construction – which can help confine a fire – did not extend into the attic, Delk and fire investigators said.

This is the second fire at the complex within eight years that destroyed one of its structures after piercing the attic, news reports show.

Damage was extensive; debris from the second floor collapsed onto the first, Delk said. A financial estimate was not available Thursday.

Kathy McNabb, case supervisor for the local chapter of the American Red Cross, said the apartment complex management relocated the displaced residents in empty units. Even so, the residents were in shock.

"They're trying to get comfortable with the idea that they've lost everything," McNabb said Thursday. "They're all hugging onto each other."

The displaced residents declined to speak to reporters through McNabb.

The complex's management, Harbor Realty Advisors Inc. of Miami Beach, also declined comment Thursday.

The complex sits on about 500 acres west of Egypt Lake and houses about 3,500 people. County records show most of the buildings were built in 1969 and that the property last was sold in 2004 for $35.5 million.

In March 1999, a blaze that spread through a common attic destroyed Building 23 at the complex, displacing 20 people, news reports show. Inspectors later determined that fire began either from the electrical service to the building or an air handler in the attic.

It is fairly common for buildings that old to lack fire walls, Deputy Fire Marshal Steve Kaplan said.

"It's not required for existing complexes to come up to code without a renovation being made and new permits being pulled," Kaplan said.

Fire walls are not foolproof, Delk said. Workers such as electricians and cable installers can "breach the integrity" of this construction by drilling holes, making it less effective, he said.

Lakeshore Club does not have and is not required to have a sprinkler system because its buildings are not three stories or taller, Kaplan said. The complex passed an inspection by Hillsborough County Fire Rescue's fire prevention division on April 20, he said.

During the check in April, inspectors found some minor violations but none in the building that burned, Kaplan said.

Residents apparently had disconnected six smoke alarms, and eight fire extinguishers were missing from a couple buildings; those problems quickly were corrected by the complex management, Kaplan said.

The hydrant system at Lakeshore Club, which is maintained by the complex, passed inspection in January, Kaplan said.

Three hydrants were used Thursday, Delk said. There were minor problems with removing a cap on one of the hydrants, but the hydrant was functional, he said.

Fourteen fire trucks, two tankers and six ambulances responded to the blaze from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue. Tampa Fire Rescue provided one crew for mutual aid, officials said.

Maintenance workers told firefighters that a smoke alarm alerted some residents to the blaze, Delk said.

Ray Lopez, a resident in a nearby building, said neighbors' screams drew him away from work on his home computer Thursday to see flames several feet tall shooting through a screen door of the affected structure.

Lopez, 41, said he banged on doors in the building to be sure no one was trapped and with his neighbors tried to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher.

"It was pretty intense," Lopez said. "To see something like that, you just never know what is going to happen. It just looked like something out of a movie."

TBO.com producer Beth Gaddis contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com. Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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