An enormous fire broke out at the science lab on the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus on Saturday.

Plumes of black smoke poured from the roof as the building was evacuated.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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Fox News shared further:

The school sent an alert reading: “Urgent Alert. Fire reported in MSL, Marine Science Lab. Evacuate building. Avoid area. Emergency personnel responding.”

St. Petersburg Fire Chief Michael Lewis said more than 60 units and about 200 firefighters responded to the scene.

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Lewis said around 9 p.m. that the fire was largely extinguished but that the building is likely “a total loss.”

“The entire roof has burned off,” he said, according to the report.

The University of South Florida said Saturday evening the building will remain closed until further notice.

“We have faculty members who have research labs there. This looks like total devastation, We’ve all been checking in on each other,” Interim Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at USF St. Petersburg Frank Biafora said, according to the New York Post.

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According to Biafora, the fire could have been much worse.

“We are actually quite lucky that the wind is taking this to the east of us because we have residence halls and a whole lot of students on this campus,” he said.

USF Sailing coach Allison Jolly said that the building’s age could have made it vulnerable to catching fire, the laboratory was built 80 years ago, the Daily Mail reported.

“[The lab] probably lacked some of the modern fire prevention things… It’s one thing to have equipment ruined, but to have years of research go up in flames is so sad,” she said.

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