Roof of combined YMCA, middle school being built in St. Petersburg catches fire
Firefighters responded Tuesday to a fire on the roof of the under-construction YMCA partnership middle school, according to a news release from St. Petersburg Fire Rescue.
At about 12:45 p.m., fire crews responded to reports of black smoke at the construction site, 501 62nd Ave NE. The fire was isolated to a 50-square-foot area on the roof and extinguished by fire crews, the release said.
The construction project at the site of what was Riviera Middle School is a public-private partnership to build a middle school accommodating about 600 students with an adjacent 48,000-square-foot YMCA open to the public, according to plans approved in May 2022 by the St. Petersburg City Council. The plans called for a projected opening date in the fall of 2024.
St. Petersburg Fire Rescue said no construction workers or fire personnel were injured, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
