WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. (WFTS) — A lightning strike sparked a fire at the Cobalt Apartments in Wesley Chapel on Thursday, Aug. 20 — and one week after the building was condemned, questions are growing about whether more could have been done to prevent it.
WATCH: Wesley Chapel fire prompts building code review
Susan Hooper was among the nearly 200 residents who lost their homes in the fire.
"Almost 53 years of marriage, what I collected and had to give up when my husband passed away, and then what was left was precious... I mean, you can't replace pictures," Hooper said. "And I'm of the paper generation where I wrote down all the passwords on paper."
Hooper said she is thankful her dog was saved and that she is alive, but she was forced to start over. She has found a new place to live, but says she is frustrated and wants answers.
"Why? Building codes need to be changed, I think," Hooper said.
Pasco fire officials said they faced a 25-minute delay responding to the fire because the fire alarms did not go off and there were no sprinklers in the attic. Officials said the fire started above most of the detection systems, making them ineffective.
After Tampa Bay 28 Annette Gutierrez posted about the fire on Facebook, hundreds of people shared questions — including one of the biggest: why don't commercial buildings like this have lightning rods?
Patrick Competelli, a former fire marshal with about four decades of experience who now inspects commercial properties, said current codes do not require them for buildings like Cobalt Apartments.
"The code dictates typically lightning rods for taller buildings, larger buildings, commercial structures, you know, it's not a bad idea, but it's not a requirement," Competelli said.
He said the state fire code weighs the risk and cost of requiring systems like lightning rods and attic sprinklers, which is why neither was required for this building.
"It costs a lot more money and is the risk benefit there and that's, that's what the code looks at," Competelli said. "As an act of God, lightning, you just don't know when it's gonna happen. If it was up to me, every building, every house, everything would be sprinkler, but the code's there for a reason."
Pasco County Commission Chairman Jack Mariano said the building was up to code, but that does not mean the building could not have been safer.
"I think Pasco County, where we focus on safety and quality of life for our residents, we're going to look to go make sure those things are going to be put in place," Mariano said. "I will not be afraid to even suggest a moratorium until we can look at these codes to make sure whatever's going to get built is going to be safer."
Mariano said investing in attic sprinklers and lightning rods is worth it, pointing to the resources spent fighting the fire as evidence.
"I don't need to have 100 people out here putting out a fire, spending 2 million gallons' worth of very valuable resource water to go put a fire out when I can prevent all that," Mariano said.
Mariano said six parts of the building have already collapsed, which is why no one is allowed inside.
"There's no reason to go in there if that building may collapse. We can't have that risk. That'd be a worse disaster. Sometimes you got to let the possessions go at the risk of your personal safety," Mariano said.
Investigators are still working to answer why the fire alarms never sounded.
"The thought is it might have been that the lightning bolt actually took out the alarm box to set the alarm off. So that could be true, but we are investigating," Mariano said.
Mariano plans to bring proposals for code changes as an agenda item at the next board meeting, set for Wednesday, Sept. 9, in Dade City. Residents who want to make their voices heard can do so during public comment at that meeting.
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