“We’re very blessed that everybody got out safe,” Mikey Silbaugh, president of West Coast Air Conditioning, told The Islander Aug. 26. “That’s the important thing.”
Silbaugh said that no one was injured following a structure fire sparked by a lightning strike to the roof of WCAC, Unit 4, at the Holmes Beach Business Center, 5347 Gulf Drive.
The lightning strike occurred around 9:50 a.m. and was captured on security camera footage from across the street at Seabreeze Vacation Rentals, 5372 Gulf Drive.
The lightning sparked a fire in the roof of the center’s northernmost building, which West Coast Air Conditioning shares with Fun and More Rentals.
The business center is owned by Holmes Bros., including president Jean Holmes, mother of Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth.
Titsworth and husband Steve operate Shoreline Builders, a construction company, in another building at the business center.
Silbaugh said that the WCAC office lights flickered that morning but nobody inside knew the building roof had been struck by lightning or was on fire until about 10:15 a.m., when a Fun and More Rentals employee entered the office to inform them.
“We didn’t get any fire damage. We didn’t get any smoke infiltration. We had no clue. If it wasn’t for Fun and More, we would have still been sitting there when the fire department showed up,” Silbaugh said.
They next evacuated people and animals from the office, including Silbaugh’s springer spaniel Goose and cockatiel Henry, to Pour House in the S&S Plaza.
West Manatee Fire Rescue units responded to the structure fire around 10:18 a.m. with support from the Bradenton Fire Department, Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue and Southern Manatee Fire Rescue.
Firefighters arrived to find smoke and flames coming from the peak of the roof, and they evacuated the building and began to extinguish the fire.
To do so, firefighters shot water onto and under the roof and confirmed there were no undetected extensions of the fire.
They cleared the scene within a couple of hours, according to WMFR fire marshal Kwiatkowski.
The commercial building was closed due to damage from the fire.
Kwiatkowski said a structural engineer would review the extent of the damage to determine how quickly the affected businesses could reopen.
Silbaugh said the office sustained a “huge amount” of water damage due to the efforts to extinguish the fire, causing around $40,000-$50,000 in damage to company equipment and supplies.
“We did lose items,” he said. “But in the grand scheme of everything, it could have been much worse.”
Silbaugh said the office was unusable following the fire, and it could be six months to a year before it is back to normal.
“It makes you realize that nobody is immune to having some sort of tragedy happen,” Silbaugh said. “At first it was very disheartening because that is our family business and it’s been 40 years. Watching it burn like that was very upsetting. “Now we’re just in the mindset that it’s like, ‘We just gotta put everything back together again and everything’s going to be back to normal.’”
“We’re just going to keep on trucking on and do the best we can with the cards we’re dealt,” he added.
Meanwhile, the business is dispatching employees out of Silbaugh’s parents’ home in Bradenton.
He said that Holmes Bros. is planning to provide an office trailer in the business center parking lot for the company to work out of by Aug. 30.
Fun and More Rentals posted Aug. 23 on Facebook, encouraging prospective renters of golf cart or vacation supplies to visit the business’ sister location, the Lazy Turtle, 314 Pine Ave., Anna Maria, while “we rebuild and handle the damage to our office.”
Kwiatkowski said WMFR only responds to fires caused by lightning once or twice a year.
“People were amazed by that, but it happens,” he said. “An act of God.” He added, “These things come up quickly. “Mother Nature can be very unforgiving.”