St. Petersburg storage facility catches fire, officials say
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Firefighters battled a blaze at a St. Petersburg storage facility Wednesday afternoon, according to city officials.
Employees at the CubeSmart Self Storage on 22nd Avenue N reported the fire at 3:45 p.m. after noticing smoke, according to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue. No one was injured.
What started the fire is unknown, said Lt. Garth Swingle, a spokesperson for the agency.
The intensity of the fire and the amount of combustible material inside storage units posed an added challenge for firefighters, St. Petersburg Fire Rescue said in an updated news release Wednesday evening.
About 30 firefighters worked to put out the flames, which damaged at least 10 storage units, Swingle said.
He said it was clear to crews that the blaze didn’t pose a threat to anyone, so firefighters focused on limiting property damage to the units from both the flames and water hoses.
“We know that all these people have, possibly, some pretty important things that are in the units,” he said.
Loud popping sounds were heard near the storage facility. Swingle said these could have been mistaken for explosions but were likely plastic bottles or cans melting in the fire.
St. Pete fire investigators are still examining the cause of the fire, Swingle said.
This is a developing story. Stay with tampabay.com for updates.
