TAMPA, Fla. — One person was injured while a fire raged on at a Tampa storage unit facility from Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning.
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said crews arrived at CubeSmart Storage Center on North 56th Street around 9:30 p.m. after they received word about the three-alarm fire.
Units reported heavy smoke coming from several storage units as crews worked to gain access to locate the fire.
Over 30 units remained at the scene until the fire was declared under control around 6:30 a.m. the next morning, marking the near-end of an over nine hour battle.
At the three hour mark, HCFR said the victim, a civilian, was transported with burn injuries and considered stable.
Linda Webster rents a storage unit from the Cubesmart in Temple Terrace. She said she received a call this morning letting her know several of those units caught on fire overnight.
"I have a lot of precious cargo inside there, valuable flowers, baskets, you know, starting out with my new business," said Webster.
People started showing up on Wednesday morning to check on their belongings, but weren’t initially allowed in the facility.
"Hopefully everything is in place and intact and unharmed, if it is, then I just have to take the loss. But I spent almost two years purchasing, and having inventory," said Webster.
One storage unit renter, Malachi Hoskins, said he was planning on moving his valuable items into his unit on Thursday.
“Antique chairs, rockers, I have some antique swords, so those were some things that would have been some great losses, and lamps. So I had a lot of antiques that I was going to be here," he said.
He waited a couple of days to make copies of his key, barely avoiding the fire.
"It saved me plus God above, because I truly believe miracles happen in our lives, and I firmly believe it was a sign to come back and get my lock," said Hoskins.
Webster and Hoskins said despite everything, they are thankful no one was seriously hurt.
"These are only material things, they can be replaced, but there are some sentimental things that can’t be replaced, and all you can do is thank God that you still have your life," said Hoskins.
"Well, I know about human loss, that’s most important. Material things can always be replaced, and I trust God with everything that I have," said Webster.
Officials are working to learn the cause of the fire, but said details so far in the investigation show it was unintentional.
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