Crime & Safety

Lightning Strikes Mintz Elementary, Fire Contained

The school will open as scheduled tomorrow, Aug. 23, as cleanup crews tend tonight to water and other damages.

Lightning is the cause of a late-afternoon fire at Mintz Elementary School in Brandon on Thursday, Aug. 22, where a timely response prevented more serious damages, according to Ronnie Rivera, a Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesperson.

Rivera said only light smoke was visible when firefighters arrived on the scene, alerted to the incident by a call received at about 4:30 p.m.

"There was light smoke coming out of the roof and one of the classrooms," he said, in an interview Thursday night. He added that firefighters had to cut a hole in the roof to determine where the smoke was coming from. Once they peered inside the hole, small flames were visible, Rivera said, and the fire was put out.

"If they didn't find where the fire was, the school would have been fully engulfed in flames," Rivera said.

He added that four classrooms were affected, with "some smoke" and "water damages" reported. "School officials are working to clean it up now," Rivera said. "There's some water damage in the four classrooms and the roof has been cut."

Rivera said he had been told by school officials that school would be open tomorrow, Aug. 23, and that a news release would be forthcoming from the School District of Hillsborough County.

He did not have an estimate of damages.

Patch earlier this summer reported two other lightning-strike fires. In Brandon House Fire Cause By Lightning, it was noted that two adults and a dog were safe following an Aug. 3 fire at 1405 Lido Drive. In Late-Night Lightning Strike Damages Bloomingdale Center, it was noted that without a nearby worker's timely 911 call, fire, water and smoke damages to a Bloomingdale center on Erindale Drive would have been a lot worse.

Rivera acknowledged that with this season's afternoon thunder- and-lightning storms occurring on a regular basis, the threat of strikes causing fire is very real.

Prevention? As with the lightning-strike fire at Mintz, he said: "Mother Nature, we can't do anything about that."

_____

Here's how the incident was reported to the press, in a media alert dated Aug. 22 and time-stamped 7:30 p.m.:

"
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue units responded to Mintz Elementary School located at 1510 Heather Lakes Blvd. in Brandon for a report of a structure fire. Upon arrival, HCFR crews found light smoke coming from the ceiling area inside one of the classrooms with no visible flames.

"Crews from truck company #11 went up to the roof to to investigate. While up there why found light smoke also coming from the same area above this classroom. They quickly had to cut a 4-by-3 foot hole in the roof to gain access. After opening the hole they found small flames and quickly extinguished them. There were no students in the school at the time of this incident.

"There was a an active thunderstorm in this area before and during the incident. [A] Hillsborough County Fire Rescue investigator was called the scene. After a complete investigation it was determined that the cause of the fire was a lightning strike hitting the building.

"Four classrooms sustained water damage plus the hole in the roof that was neeed to gain access to the fire. School officials initiated the cleanup and repairs to the classrooms. School will be open tomorrow and the public information officer for Hillsborough County schools will be sending a press release later on.

"There are no reports of injuries to civilians or fire rescue personnel. A total of 10 units with over 20 personnel responded to the incident."  


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.