Fire causes late-night evacuation at Sea Gate Club

Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire late Friday night at Sea Gate Club condominium, 2524 Gulf of Mexico Drive.Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire late Friday night at Sea Gate Club condominium, 2524 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Longboat Key Fire Rescue along with the Sarasota County Fire Department and West Manatee Fire Rescue responded to a call dispatched at 11:26 p.m., after a resident pulled the fire alarm.

Firefighters determined the fire was contained to an air/heating system within a unit on the 12th floor and forcibly entered six units to determine there was no extension of smoke and fire.

Residents waited in the building’s community room until personnel declared the building safe for re-entry.

“Many of the residents shared with me they thought it was just another ‘false alarm’ and were not going to evacuate. They said they knew something was wrong when the alarm was not silenced and no one came on the intercom. This was good information to hear since we always keep the alarm sounding until we can determine the origin of the alarm. It was also good to hear that the resident in the fire apartment is the one that pulled the fire alarm alerting all the residents,” Longboat Key Fire Rescue Chief Paul Dezzi wrote in an email early this morning to Town Manager Dave Bullock, Assistant Town Manager Anne Ross and deputy fire chiefs that summarized the incident.

Fire rescue units left the scene around 1:15 a.m.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].