Post #949 by Kailuageoff on Tue, Apr 23, 2002 1:12 PM

Here's the article from the Tampa Tribune on the fire. I'm sure there's much more to the history of this place, but this is what the reporter found out.
Fire Blamed On Power Surge (from angry tiki gods, no doubt!)
March 26, 2002
Section: PASCO
Page: 1
LISA A. [email protected]
Memo: Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.
BUILDING BEGAN AS RECREATION CENTER
HOLIDAY - It was the view from Anna's Family Buffet that sold Terry Hogan on buying a condominium in Tahitian Gardens 22 years ago.
The west side of the 9,000- square-foot restaurant was glass, overlooking the small lake that is the focal point of the 55-and-older community.
Hogan watched in horror early Monday as flames tore through the one-story, concrete building that most recently housed the Lakeview Rodeo Food Corral.
"I heard the biggest explosion and looked here and just screamed," she said later, as she surveyed the damage. ". . . It was so scary to see those flames shoot so high."
It took firefighters from Pasco County, New Port Richey and Tarpon Springs - 45 personnel in all - to battle the three-alarm fire, which began around 2:30 a.m., said Pasco battalion chief Michael Ciccarello. By 11 a.m., a crane was knocking down what was left of the business, while firefighters hosed down hot spots.
The building, at 2401 U.S. 19, behind the Best Western Tahitian Resort, has changed hands several times over the years. In recent months it had reopened as Lakeview Rodeo Food Corral, a restaurant and country line dance bar. The grand opening sign still hangs on its roadside marquee.
Originally, residents said, the building was the Tahitian Gardens recreation center.
All day Monday, the charred remains drew spectators who were shocked to discover how fire had ravaged it.
The heat from the blaze, which later was determined to be accidental, was so intense it melted about a half-dozen light post globes lining the pathway behind the building. Steel beams were twisted and bent. The roof had caved in. And most of what was inside was not recognizable.
Witnesses said they first saw flames shoot up from the southwest part of the building. The fire then raced across the roof to the north wall.
"You could just hear the glass tinkling as it exploded," said Jill Smith, who moved to Tahitian Gardens just a week ago. "Then that [the roof] just caved in."
No one was injured during the blaze, but a county fire investigator was taken to Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital in Tarpon Springs after twisting his knee later in the day. After getting treatment, he was sent home to rest, Ciccarello said.
Investigators from three agencies determined an electrical surge from an underground transformer shorted out the building's electrical system, causing the fire, said Ciccarello. What caused the surge is still being investigated by Florida Power, but it wasn't anything suspicious, he said.
"I was definitely a major power surge," he said.
Michael Tenore bought the property in August 2000 for $352,000, but for tax purposes the land and building are assessed at a total of $241,231, property appraiser records show. Tenore, of Martinsville, N.J., could not be reached for comment Monday.