St. Petersburg Fire Rescue was on scene at the USF St. Petersburg parking garage at 1 p.m. today.
They were responding to reports of smoke coming from the first floor of the garage. An engine fire from a car near the first right-hand turn from the ground floor of the garage was to blame.
David Hendry is the police chief for the University Police Department. He said that fire-rescue had a tough time finding the source of the fire.
“Because it was a contained fire it was harder to get a precise location on it,” Hendry said. “It wasn’t until the flames actually came out of the car that we knew which car it was.”
The police department came to the scene quickly, Hendry said.
The surrounding buildings, including the Barnes & Noble, USF Credit Union and Campus Police office were all evacuated.
A university-wide notification came through to inform students of the fire and to tell them to stay away from the garage.
As of the writing of this report, the parking garage is still closed, but is expected to reopen shortly.
