CITRUS PARK, Fla. — Hillsborough County Fire Rescue called in extra crews to battle a large three-alarm fire at a Jewish community center, officials said.
The call came in 4:17 p.m. Saturday to the Weinburg Village Jewish Community Center off Community Campus Drive, according to officials. Dispatch received a call from a bystander reporting smoke and flames coming from the roof.
Crews arrived within minutes, but it took about an hour and a half and additional crews to extinguish the fire due to the size of the building.
Jacob Germano was visiting with his grandmother when he smelled smoke.
"We were just visiting because my grandma always goes Saturdays and Sundays. Uh, usually I don't go, but today I went with her. Um, it was just an immediate, uh, force of smoke. I was just sitting down, I guess, but there was an immediate force of smoke, and I just saw people coming out from doors and saying get out, get out now, get out now. So we all just ended up leaving. They pushed everybody outside. We could smell the smoke overwhelmingly," Jacob Germano said.
Crews said facility staff report the building has been vacant for about one year. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
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