ST. PETE, Fla. — A lightning strike appears to be the likely cause of the massive fire that destroyed the marine science lab building at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus.
No one was hurt in the fire on Saturday, but the impact is being felt across the campus community, especially among researchers and students who relied on the facility.
Video from the scene shows what may have been the moment lightning struck the building. The footage was recorded from nearby Al Lang Stadium by a Tampa Bay Rowdies employee. Additional video captured from the same vantage point shows the fire growing over the next couple of hours.
“Look at those flames. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness," a voice on the video is heard saying.
USF St. Petersburg interim chancellor Thomas Smith said university cameras also captured video of the strike. While fire officials have not officially confirmed the cause, Smith said the timing strongly suggests lightning.
“It was a strike about 3:15 in the afternoon, and then two hours later, that’s exactly the spot we saw the smoke start to billow out.”
Students nearby watched the fire unfold in real time. Lily Labarbera said she saw it from the seventh floor of her dorm.
“And we were just watching it progress and progress from our window.”
Officials said the timing of the fire likely prevented injuries, as it occurred on a Saturday when the building was empty. Some people in a nearby building were evacuated as a precaution.
Still, the damage could be significant. Smith said the building may be a total loss, along with specialized equipment and decades of research.
“In some ways, the real trauma here is if you are a researcher, if you are a graduate student. This is their lives. And this kind of commitment to science. And here abruptly, this interruption and disruption of everything on the research side. that the college has been doing.”
Fire officials said hazardous materials teams are now assessing the site and cataloging chemicals that may have burned. Investigators believe those chemicals contributed to the unusual green flames seen coming from the roof at one point.
“It looked like every single fire truck and emergency vehicle in the city was just showing up," said Labarbera.
Fire officials said 69 units and nearly 200 firefighters responded to the scene. No animals or marine life were harmed, as they are all kept at another facility.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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