Fire engulfs Dock on the Bay condo units

No civilian or first responder injuries were reported, but two condo units are extensively damaged after a two-alarm fire engulfed condos overnight on Longboat Key.

Longboat Key Fire Rescue units were dispatched to the scene at 3:10 a.m. and arrived at 3:13 a.m., according to Longboat Key Fire Rescue spokesperson Tina Adams. The fires impacted two units at the Dock on the Bay condominium complex, which includes several separate buildings at 3440 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Only one building with two units was damaged by the fire, Adams said, but the damage was “extensive.”

“The fire was through the roof of the second floor,” Adams said.

Image courtesy of Longboat Key Fire Rescue

Adams said units 8 and 9 were damaged in the fire.

Longboat Key Fire Rescue’s Fire Marshal and the Florida State Fire Marshal are on scene to determine the cause of the fire. Adams said it is standard procedure for the State Fire Marshal to take over the investigation for structure fires.

The fire, which was reported at 3:10 a.m., was under control at 4:05 a.m. and extinguished at 4:46 a.m. Frank Biondello, Jr., the marina manager who helps with site management during the offseason, said there were people in one of the units nearby, but that they were not displaced. 

“The building has been secured. The Fire Marshals have released it back to us. The preliminary, I say preliminary with a capital P, is that it was a lightning strike, so significant amount of damage from the fire,” Biondello said. “Fortunately it was isolated to those two buildings.”