Hillsborough Fire Rescue crews battled a three-alarm warehouse fire on Thursday evening.
Shortly after 6:00 p.m. crews received a call of a reported warehouse fire at 5226 Hillsborough Ave E in Tampa.
When Firefighters first arrived they reported heavy smoke and fire coming from the roof of the warehouse.
According to officials, Tampa Fire Rescue and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue arrived first on scene both with a single alarm assignment of units making the fire 2 alarms. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue had to take command of the scene and called for the 3rd alarm due to manpower needed because of the size of the fire.
Officials said the warehouse is divided into multiple businesses separated by a fire wall. The affected business is Florida Sleep Products that manufactures mattresses on site. Firefighters encountered stacks of finished and unfinished mattresses inside the warehouse causing a large fire load inside.
3 ladder trucks were set up around the steel warehouse building, and Firefighters took a defensive attack. Foam was brought in to help finish extinguish the flames.
MetroPCS employees who work in a store near the warehouse said they had to close early.
“We had to close early 'cause of the state trooper that blocked the entrance to avoid other cars that were stopping by taking pictures and stuff," Anthony Rodriguez said.
Another MetroPCS employee could not believe the intensity of the fire.
“It was like the largest smoke I've seen in front of my eyes," Zaid Silwadi said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
