St. Petersburg Fire Department officials battled a large, two-alarm fire at a scrap yard on 30th Avenue North Thursday afternoon.

The fire broke out at Aceros America St. Pete, a scrap recycling facility at 2550 30th Ave., around 2 p.m. N. in St. Petersburg, said Ashlie Handy, a spokeswoman for the fire department.

Facility staff told emergency dispatch that a large pile of debris had caught fire in the rear of the property. It started small and employees tried to put it out with fire extinguishers before the fire grew larger, Handy said.

As of 2:30 p.m., the fire was still raging but was contained to the scrap yard, she said. Several firefighters, five fire engines and two ladder trucks were on site and tried to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding buildings and residential areas.

In an update just before 3:30 p.m., officials said residents in the Ponce De Leon neighborhood were evacuated due to large amounts of smoke.

Thick, black smoke could be seen many blocks from the fire. No one was injured in the fire, Handy said.

According to the fire department, St. Petersburg police closed all streets from Morris Street to 28th Street and from 30th Avenue to 26th Avenue.

A fire investigator was on scene but was unable to determine the cause until firefighters suppressed the flames.

Handy said debris piled up on the property likely came from homes damaged during Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Clearwater firefighters battled another large structure fire Friday that was sparked by hurricane debris.

“It wouldn’t be crazy to think that something was dropped here that you know shouldn’t have been dropped,” Handy said. “We don’t know yet.”

According to the fire department, power lines were damaged by the fire and Duke Energy was notified.

This is a developing story. Stick with it tampabay.com for updates.