TAMPA - A Sunday night fire gutted Tampa Bay Hardware, the oldest hardware store in the city and a mainstay of the Seminole Heights neighborhood for decades.
The three-alarm blaze collapsed the roof of the single-story, barnlike building at 5511 N. Nebraska Ave. and engulfed 85 percent of the structure, Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said.
The store was closed, and no one was inside, officials said. No injuries have been reported, Wade said. The fire closed Nebraska Avenue from just north of Hillsborough Avenue to East Powhatan Avenue.
More than 50 firefighters and six ladder trucks responded to scene shortly after 6 p.m. Nearby power lines were falling from the heat and there were propane tanks around the building threatened by the flames, Wade said.
At least one explosion was heard in the rear of the hardware store, he said. Sullivan's Holster Shop behind the hardware store was moderately damaged. Tampa Bay Hardware was a total loss and damage to the store exceeds $1 million, Wade said.
About 500 people watched the flames from the street, and witnesses said the fire was so intense the heat could be felt from 100 yards away.
The fire is under investigation.
The blaze was under control in about 90 minutes and crews are expected to stay overnight checking for hot spots, Wade said.
Officials expect the southbound lanes of Nebraska Avenue to be open by the Monday morning rush hour, but the northbound lanes north of Hillsborough Avenue to Powhatan Avenue are expected to remain closed.
Tampa Bay Hardware opened in 1941. According to a Tribune story published May 22, the store's owner, Tom Roberts, bought the property in the early 1970s, a few years after Interstate 75 - now I-275 - cut Seminole Heights in two, causing families to move away and the neighborhood to wither.
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