Three-Alarm Fire Tears Through Vacant Jewish Community Center Building in Tampa; No Injuries Reported
TAMPA — Tampa is a city in Hillsborough County, Florida. A vacant community center building in Tampa caught fire on Saturday afternoon, October 17, prompting a three-alarm response. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said dispatchers received a 911 call from a bystander around 4:17 p.m. reporting smoke and flames coming from the roof of the Weinberg Village Jewish Community Center at 13009 Community Campus Dr.
Firefighters arrived within eight minutes and called a second alarm because of the building's size and potential fire load, later upgrading to a third alarm for additional resources. Crews contained the blaze and brought it under control within about 90 minutes, and operations at the scene continued afterward. Facility staff told officials the building had been vacant for about one year.
No injuries to residents or firefighters were reported. Jacob Germano, who was visiting his grandmother nearby, recalled smelling smoke and seeing people come out of doors urging everyone to get out, after which people evacuated the area.
The cause of the fire has not been announced, and fire officials have not released further investigative details. (GSM, based on FOX 13 and WFTS Tampa Bay reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Tampa 天际线（资料图）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 2.0。Photo: The Tampa skyline (file photo). Source: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
