Curious onlookers had been kept at bay at the Westshore Glass Corporation where a multi-alarm fire war burning due to concerns over harmful chemicals in the building.
By Times Staff
Published January 29, 2006
At the height of the fire, nearly 50 firefighters battled the four-alarm fire in a mostly industrial area just north of Tampa International Airport.
Hillsborough Fire Rescue responded just after 1 p.m. to Westshore Glass Corp. at 5300 W Knox St. Hillsborough fire spokesman Ray Yeakley said the fire started on the second floor and spread throughout two of the company's five buildings.
No one was injured, but dozens of people driving near the area stopped to ask
questions about the large plumes of black smoke, wondering whether a plane had crashed.
Officials at TIA said that the smoke rising into the air had not affected any flight arrivals
or departures.
Fire officials pulled back firefighters after about an hour of battling the
blaze because of safety and health reasons. The roof collapsed, forcing firefighters out of
the building and to work the blaze from the outside. Firefighters also wore respirators as they fought the fire because of the toxic fumes in the billowing smoke.
Rubber used to make saftey glass was fueling the fire.
There is no indication yet as to what may have sparked the fire. According to media reports, It is unknown if electrical work done on the buildings' air-conditioning unit late last week is possibly related.
- Kevin Graham, Staff Writer[Last modified January 29, 2006, 16:21:22]
