By Erin Sullivan, Times Staff Writer
Friday, November 26, 2010
DADE CITY — A fire at a fragrance oil warehouse that began Wednesday night still smoked with occasional spot fires Friday, said Timothy Reardon, training chief for Pasco County Fire Rescue.
"There's no real change from yesterday," Reardon said Friday. "There are less spot fires. We are just keeping a perimeter around it."
A business called All Natural Botanicals, which had 55-gallon drums of essential oils used in bath, body and home products, was the only business inside 30,000-square-foot building, which is located at the Dade City Business Center on U.S. 301.
The only reported injury was of a Pasco firefighter who suffered a shoulder injury Wednesday. He was treated and released that night, Reardon said.
The fire is being fueled by thick insulation between the warehouse walls, which was installed when the industrial park was the Lykes-Pasco citrus packing plant. The business once employed 2,000 people and was the largest citrus processing plant in the world. Park owner Jim Guedry believes the building was built in the 1950s. The citrus company closed in 2004.
Reardon expected investigators to be able to get inside the building late Friday, to begin figuring out what caused the fire. A crew was expected to continue watching the building Friday night, in case the fire reignites.