PLANT CITY - A ferocious fire fed by Hurricane Frances' whipping winds ripped through a closed tire store early Sunday , spreading to an empty day care center and sending embers streaking through the air.
A police officer first noticed the fire at Broadway New & Used Tires & Salvage on Collins Street about 5 a.m., authorities said. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
The city's entire firefighting force responded, as did four units from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
More than a mile away, residents who sought shelter from the hurricane at Marshall Middle School watched as a bright orange glow lit up the horizon.
A few blocks away from the fire, John Lofstrom was riding out the storm in his brother Jerry's Whistle Stop Cafe. He was dozing inside the popular spot when blaring sirens woke him and he hurried over to see what was happening.
Towering flames shot up through the dark sky.
"I thought it was a whole city block that was on fire," Lofstrom said. "It smelled real bad because of all the burning rubber. Ash was falling everywhere."
The firefighting effort was especially impressive, given the strong winds that seemed to pump life into the fire, bystanders said. Streetlights strung on cables swung in the air like charms on a bracelet. Broken branches rolled down streets like tumbleweeds, and metal signs banged loudly against wooden posts.
Firefighters had to deal with 20-30 mph winds that changed direction several times, prompting them to switch their positions fast, said Delmar Jackson, chief of the Plant City Fire Prevention Bureau, which has three members.
Firefighters with country drawls addressed each other by "buddy" or their first names instead of rank.
"Hey, Henry," Jackson asked one of the fire captains, "how many engines responded, do you know?"
"Everybody," came the chuckled response.
In all, Plant City contributed eight support crews, including a 100-foot tower ladder truck that doused the flames from the air, and a truck normally reserved for fighting brush fires, Jackson said.
Fire trucks were strategically placed within a 10-block radius of the fire because shooting embers posed a threat to neighboring business, including the police station and an apartment complex filled with frightened residents.
It took crews more than two hours to control the fire, which destroyed both Broadway Tires and the Tots Learning Center next door, officials said.
One Plant City firefighter was treated for heat exposure, Jackson said.
A damage estimate had not yet been made Sunday afternoon.
The Fire Department called the tire store's owner, Ray Chapman, at home. Chapman drove to his business, which had been open since 1992, and watched as firefighters he knows personally battled to salvage his burning store.
He wasn't distraught over the total loss of his store because he has insurance, he said. Rather, he was more in awe of the firefighting effort.
"I give it all to them," Chapman said as rain began battering the area and powerful winds sent his T-shirt sleeves flapping. Lofstrom, from the Whistle Stop restaurant, didn't feel the need to hang around.
"The chief will come by for a bite to eat later," Lofstrom said. "He'll give us all the details himself."
