Cobalt Apartments Fire Was "Nearly Unpreventable," Fire Chief Tells Pasco Commissioners as Displaced Tenants Hire Lawyers

Pasco County's fire chief told county commissioners last week that nothing required by Florida's building code could have stopped the Aug. 20 lightning strike that destroyed a Cobalt Apartments building in Wesley Chapel, even as more than two dozen displaced residents have now hired lawyers who say property management still won't return their calls.

Fire Chief Ryan Guynn told commissioners at the Sept. 9 meeting that the lightning bolt disabled fire alarm panels and severed wiring across three buildings at the complex off Wesley Chapel Boulevard, then tore through roofing systems and triggered multiple structural collapses. Crews poured nearly 2 million gallons of water onto the blaze. More than 100 units were damaged, and the building has been condemned.

The fire displaced somewhere between 167 and 200 residents, depending on the count used. Cobalt's property management says 83 households were directly affected.

Why sprinklers and lightning rods weren't there

Guynn's answer to commissioners boiled down to a gap in the state's building code. Sprinklers are not required in attics under the system the complex was built to follow, and multifamily buildings under three stories weren't required to have sprinkler systems of any kind until 2020 or 2021. Cobalt predates that requirement.

Lightning protection is a separate story. County officials told commissioners that outside of hospitals regulated by OSHA, no building in Florida is required to have lightning protection installed. The Florida Building Commission considered making it mandatory back in 2018. The proposal fell short of the votes needed to pass. Officials noted that adding a lightning protection system typically runs 1 to 3% on top of total construction costs.

Commissioners raised the question of whether the code should change anyway. County staff didn't rule it out, but made clear it isn't a decision Pasco can make on its own.

What the county is still waiting on

More than three weeks after the fire, county officials said at the Sept. 9 meeting that they still don't know the current condition of the building or what the property owner plans to do with it. Officials said they're waiting on the owner's plans for recovery or salvage of residents' belongings, and that property management hasn't filed the reports the Fire Marshal's Office requires.

That gap is exactly what's driving residents to lawyers.

Residents turn to an Orlando law firm

An Orlando law firm says it now represents more than two dozen displaced Cobalt residents. Attorney Lucie Robinson said her firm has reached out to property management and gotten no response. She said the building wasn't destroyed evenly: units on lower floors are more structurally intact than upper units, which she said raises safety concerns for anyone entering to retrieve property that isn't secured. Robinson said her firm is conducting its own inspection and investigation to determine whether residents have grounds for legal action, and that the goal is compensation for people who she said lost everything in a fire that struck what should have been a place they felt safe.

A Cobalt Apartments spokesperson pushed back on the idea that management has gone quiet. The spokesperson said the company has maintained continuous communication with any of the 83 impacted households who have contacted them, much of it handled individually because each resident's circumstances differ. According to the spokesperson, those conversations have covered relocation options, unit transfers, move-outs, rent credits, security deposits, personal-property concerns and available resources, along with community-wide updates.

Neither the county nor the property owner has said when the building's fate will be decided, or when displaced residents might get another chance to retrieve belongings from the parts of the complex still standing. County officials said the reports they're waiting on go to the Fire Marshal's Office once filed, which will help determine what happens next.

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