Port Tampa Bay sulfur tank fire: Fire crew on scene with Hazmat team; shelter-in-place at Harbor Island
Update: The shelter-in-place order was lifted at 8:51 pm, after emergency responders brought the situation under control, according to an X post by Tampa Fire rescue.
Representational. (X | Tampa Fire Rescue )Initial report: Tampa Fire Rescue and its Hazardous Materials (HazMat) team responded to a reported Sulphur plant fire at Port Tampa Bay, Florida on Friday. Officials have issued a shelter-in-place notification for nearby Harbor Island residents.
In an update posted on X, Tampa Fire Rescue said firefighters and HazMat personnel were “on scene, mitigating the incident.” As a precaution, officials urged Harbor Island residents to remain indoors while emergency crews assessed the situation.
One X user wrote that a sulfur plant was on fire. “Sulfur plant is on fire. It could probably put off poisonous gasses, winds flowing from the east. We'll push it out across. Davis and harbor island into the mainland,” the user wrote.
Users on X reported receiving an alert on their electronic devices about the shelter-in-place. Some users also reported seeing the alert on their television mid broadcast.
One user wrote, “Seen it in an alert watching jeopardy. Tampa fire rescue posted they were on scene 20 minutes ago. Only thing I can think of is an ammonia tanker?”
Another user shared a picture of their television screen that read, “HAZARDOUS MATERIALS WARNING. A civil authority has issued A HAZARDOUS MATERIALS WARNING for the following counties or areas: Hillsborough, FL; at 7:44 PM on SEP 18, 2026. Effective until 8:44 PM. Message from IPAWSCAP. Hazmat at Port. Harbor Island: Shelter in place. Stay indoors. Update within 1 hour.”
According to local media IONTB, crews were initially dispatched around Friday evening after heavy smoke was spotted near Port Tampa Bay.
Once firefighters evaluated the scene, they determined that a fire at the Gulf Sulphur facility had caused hydrogen sulfide to be released from a storage tank.
Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless gas known for its strong rotten egg odor and can irritate the eyes and respiratory system at elevated concentrations.
As a safety measure, officials closed Sparkman Channel to all marine traffic and issued a shelter-in-place notification for Harbor Island at 7:42 pm.
Tampa Fire Rescue said HazMat personnel would continue working at the facility until the incident was fully mitigated.
Shirin Gupta is a content producer with the Hindustan Times. She covers everything between politics, entertainment and sports at the US desk. Shirin got interested in political journalism during her time as a web editor at her college newspaper NCC News in Syracuse when she first started seeing the effects of national politics in life of her fellow colleagues. Shirin has worked on a wide range of fast-moving and developing stories locally when she was at NCC editing accessible reports for the audience. Her current role requires her to track real-time updates, verify information and present balanced coverage across diverse beats. Covering US politics from an international newsroom perspective has further deepened her understanding of how domestic decisions can have far-reaching global consequences. With a keen interest in international affairs, Shirin continues to build her expertise in geopolitics, policy shifts, and cross-border developments. She aims to learn and evolve her reporting in matters of geopolitics and international issues. Outside the newsroom Shirin writes about books and music for her personal blog. She is an avid consumer of pop culture and reveres literature.Read More
