A firefighter was hospitalized Thursday morning after a large fire broke out at a Tampa apartment complex.

The fire was at the Captiva Club Apartments, located at 4513 Castaway Dr. near Kelly Road and Memorial Highway in the Town 'N Country area.

According to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, 12 units were destroyed in the fire. A total of 16 units have fire, smoke and water damage. Officials said four units are salvageable.



The 2-alarm fire, which swept across the roof of one apartment building, broke out just after 5:30 a.m. Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control after about an hour and a half.

The firefighter who was injured was taken to a local hospital in stable condition.

None of the residents in the complex were injured.



Earlier in the morning, flames leapt into the sky off the apartment building as fire raced across the roof.

"The (flames) were so hot, you could feel the heat from across the street," said apartment resident TJ Velez. "Me and my family knocked on doors and banged on doors and got people out of apartments."

The Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents.

Officials have not released any information on what may have started the fire. The state Fire Marshal's Office is investigating.



"It's horrifying," said resident Mary Johnson, whose unit was adjacent to the building on fire. "The closer it (the fire) got to our building, the closer we were to losing everything. I feel so bad for the people who lost their stuff but thank God everybody got out OK."

