Firefighters return to Colony after seeing smoke

Firefighters returned to the former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort 9 a.m. Sunday after seeing smoke coming from a roof of the midrise building that had been on fire Saturday afternoon.

“We drove by to make sure everything was OK and saw the smoke,” Fire Chief Paul Dezzi said.

As a precaution, fire rescue dispatched a ladder truck to check the roof of the six-floor building. There were no reports of an additional fire.

Around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Longboat Fire Rescue with assistance from the Sarasota County Fire Department, responded to a structure fire in a vacant, six-floor building. Upon their arrival, units saw smoke coming from the sixth floor of the property at 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Dezzi said they do not know what caused the fire but called it suspicious. He said firefighters found debris and clothes on the sixth floor of the condemned building.

No injuries have been reported. The State Fire Marshal has been called, and the incident remains under investigation.

Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc. plans to develop a St. Regis Hotel and Residences, a 166-room, 78-condominium project on the former resort site.