Palm Harbor Fire Rescue Crew Helps Battle Clearwater Condo Fire

Members of Palm Harbor Fire Rescue were among the 100 firefighters who battled an early morning blaze at a Clearwater condominium complex Saturday.

Five people were taken to local hospitals for smoke-related injuries after the multiple-alarm fire ripped through building #8 at the  on Countryside Boulevard. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

At least 30 people were displaced by the fire, including a woman from unit 305 who escaped with her oxygen tank and whatever medications she could carry on her walker. She sat in an air-conditioned lobby across the street, her legs wrapped in an American Red Cross blanket, while her son talked to firefighters about retrieving documents from her damaged unit. Her third-floor unit adjoins the elevator shaft that divides the fire-ravaged building.

“The place is condemned,” her son reported back to her. “I told them my dad was about to have a heart attack about his paperwork. ... They took all the photos out and put a blanket over them. … Those guys are awesome.”

Fire officials say that the initial call came in at 2:39 a.m. They arrived within two minutes to find flames shooting through the roof of the building with several people trapped on the third floor. At least five people were rescued from windows and balconies. One cat was rescued.

It took at least 100 firefighters until 6 a.m. to bring the blaze under control.

The fire destroyed half the building, impacting first-floor units 106, 107, 108 and 109; second-floor units 206, 207, 208 and 209; and third-floor units 306, 307, 308 and 309. The other half sustained smoke and water damage, fire officials say.

Fire officials believe the blaze to be accidental and may have started in a third-floor unit. The investigation is ongoing.

The American Red Cross is helping victims with temporary living arrangements.

Firefighters from Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Safety Harbor, Dunedin, Largo, Oldsmar and Tarpon Springs fought the blaze.