Fires at CVS, Publix shopping center cause severe damage in St. Pete Beach

Fire heavily damages St. Pete Beach shopping center

FOX 13's Kailey Tracy reports.

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. - Investigators are working to figure out what caused a large fire at a St. Pete Beach CVS, which later spread to Publix and other stores on Tuesday, leading to an hours-long effort to put the flames out.

Fire destroys CVS

Timeline:

Crews initially responded around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday to CVS at 4685 Gulf Blvd., in the Dolphin Village shopping center.

St. Pete Beach officials said four people were inside the store and got out safely, with heavy smoke billowing from the building as the three-alarm fire burned. It forced nearby stores to evacuate, and several neighboring agencies responded as well.

A massive three-alarm fire tore through a CVS on Gulf Boulevard in St. Pete Beach on Tuesday afternoon, forcing nearby stores to evacuate.

St. Pete Beach Communications Manager Marc Portugal said CVS’ roof partially collapsed, but crews contained the fire around six p.m.

Flames spread to Publix and beyond

Then, around 9 p.m., hot spots ignited in the building’s front facade and the fire spread, damaging several other stores, like the Publix, Swim City, Hungry Howie’s, an AT&T store and the UPS shop.

City staff said it was like a game of whack a mole, but crews contained the fire by 11:30 p.m. Despite the extensive damage, St. Pete Beach officials say no injuries have been reported.

A large fire destroyed a CVS store in St. Pete Beach, then spread to Publix and other stores in the Dolphin Village shopping center.

Nick Johnson’s family owns Swim City, which’s right next to CVS and just reopened in February after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

"It's been pretty, pretty devastating to see," he said. "It's extremely difficult for a small family business. My parents started it right before I was born, and now I'm kind of taking on more of a role with the company, and so, it's been very challenging. We're rolling with the punches, and we'll get through it, but it's just a lot to take on right now," he said.

CVS has extensive damage, a spokesperson for CVS said. The spokesperson also said employees can transfer to nearby CVS locations, and people with immediate prescription needs can visit the downtown St. Pete location at 3501 54th Ave. South.

A Publix spokesperson said they’ve relocated employees to different locations as well. A UPS spokesperson said they’re working to redirect mail and deliveries to the UPS location at 13799 Park Blvd. North in Seminole.

People nearby react to fires

What they're saying:

"I kind of just sat in my car waiting around a little and then all of a sudden, eight fire trucks started coming in," Raymond Stith, who works at Jersey Mikes in the building next door to the CVS, said Wednesday.

Stith said he was on his break and was about to go into the CVS when he saw smoke.

"I was genuinely concerned that our place would burn down as well," he said.

"It was terrifying," Alex Sparra, who was near the scene when the fire spread, said. "I heard the alarms go off and all the people come out, and within five minutes the whole thing was ablaze."

Frederick DeNike and his wife came to the CVS to pick up their prescriptions around 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.

"My wife went up to them and said, ‘we want to pick up the prescriptions,’" DeNike said. "She goes, ‘I’m sorry lady, but CVS is burned down,’" he said.

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Fires caused extensive damage to the Dolphin Village shopping center in St. Pete Beach.

DeNike and others said most of the stores in the plaza had recently reopened after the hurricanes.

"We've just been through so much, you know," he said. "We just went through two hurricanes, which damaged a lot of these stores that had to take a long time to reopen again and now this. So, it really hurts the community. I mean, this was just not an area where the people who live here all year long shop, but all the seasonal vacationers … this is where they would come pick up their groceries," DeNike said.

"It's going to be a difficult time for everybody. But you know, something, St. Pete is strong and it'll come back. It came back after the hurricanes," DeNike said.

Several people throughout the day Wednesday came to get a look at the damage for themselves, like Jim Jarrell, who has lived in St. Pete Beach for 16 years and said he came to this Publix almost every day.

"It’s a devastating loss for us," Jarrell said. "It was total devastation from the hurricanes. So now, to see this, people are just getting back on their feet. It’s pretty shocking."

As for the stores that are still open at the plaza, the owners say they’re concerned about business now that the plaza’s anchors are gone for now.

"This is a major hub here for this entire community and also for beach goers and visitors from all over the world or all over country," said. Jerry Zamudio, owner of beach Vibe Cycle Rentals, said. "This Publix is very integral to this community. So is the CVS. I mean, without this, we wouldn't have the foot traffic or even the traffic that we get because this is where people come to eat and people who live in the surrounding area, like ourselves, come here for groceries and what not. So, this is a big loss, major, major loss," he said.

Crews set up a fence Wednesday around the damage and officials are asking the public to avoid the area as the investigation continues.

"I feel bad for the stores and the employees. They've been through a lot this year. "I believe this facility was damaged by Helene and Milton, so they've already gone through remediation once this year and they're going to have to go through it again," Portugal said Wednesday morning.

Other stores at the shopping center are still open, but the stores from the CVS through the Publix are closed. It's not known each of the businesses will reopen. Fire crews continue to monitor the scene and have been there 24/7 since the fire broke out Tuesday afternoon.

Crews from several agencies worked late into the night to get the fire under control.

Some of the damage is visible from the outside, where multiple stores' front walls and signs crumbled to the ground.

In addition to CVS and Publix, businesses that have been impacted include the UPS Store, Hungry Howie's Pizza, Swim City and an AT&T store – all of which recently reopened after suffering damage during the 2024 hurricanes.

Despite the extensive damage, St. Pete Beach officials say no injuries have been reported.

While much of the shopping center remains blocked off, Gulf Blvd. is back open as of Wednesday morning. Still, officials are asking the public to avoid the area as the investigation continues.

What's next:

Officials say all businesses in the complex will remain closed on Wednesday as a precaution. It's not known whether each of the businesses will reopen.

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The Source: This story was written with information from officials in St. Pete Beach, interviews with neighbors and previous FOX 13 News reports.

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