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TAMPA - Eleven days ago, Tampa Bay Downs celebrated the end of its 78th season, one of the most successful ever. Attendance was the highest in nearly a decade. Purses swelled to a record $12.7-million.
Thursday, with a charred smell in the air, there was little reason for celebration.
Fire investigators combed the Race Track Road complex in search of clues to whether an overnight fire that caused $250,000 in damage to three accounting offices was accidental or intentional. By mid morning, investigators weren't sure.
"They aren't saying one way or the other," said Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman Capt. Ray Yeakley. "It's going to take awhile," said Randy St. Clair, a criminal investigator with the Division of State Fire Marshal's Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations.
The investigation will involve the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
"This place deals with a lot of money, being a horse track," St. Clair said.
It was just before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when a handful of employees were heading out for the night and saw plumes of smoke billowing through the dark sky. By the time the fire was contained at 2 a.m., more than 60 firefighters from Tampa, Oldsmar and Hillsborough County were there, Yeakley said.
The damage was visible from Race Track Road, just south of Linebaugh Avenue. Blackened soot smeared walls. Concrete siding was missing. Puddles of water collected on the first floor and trickled into the parking lot. Water-soaked mops and telephone books were strewn about the north side of the building.
Still, it was business as usual.
Just after noon, dozens of cars filled the parking lot, just in time for the 12:30 p.m. simulcast of several horse races. Most were unaware of the fire.
Unfazed, New Port Richey's Joseph Delieto, 82, said, "I'm going inside to make some ... money."
Patrons will be using the clubhouse entrance, said Tampa Bay Downs spokeswoman Margo Flynn. "Other than that, we don't expect any change in business."
In the 1950s, when it was known as Sunshine Park, there were at least three fires. One fire in 1953 killed 17 horses and caused $40,000 in damage. In May 1968, a fire destroyed the grandstand and left $300,000 in damage.
- Times researchers Cathy Wos and Mary Mellstrom contributed to this report.