Frequent customer calls 911 after seeing Starbucks on fire in Lakewood Ranch

There was no way that Dr. Conor Dolehide was going to let his Lakewood Ranch neighborhood Starbucks on Main Street burn down.

“I go there every day,” Dolehide, a Lakewood Ranch dermatologist, said emphatically on Sunday. “It’s our Starbucks.”

It was Dolehide, one of two physicians at Arsenault Dermatology in Lakewood Ranch, who called 911 at 11:09 p.m. Saturday to report a fire at the Starbucks across the street from his home at Venue at Lakewood Ranch.

Dolehide ran over to see if anyone needed a doctor’s help.

Although he saw flames from the patio reaching up to the roof of the coffee shop at 8155 Main Street in Lakewood Ranch, Dolehide said he later was relieved to learn no one was harmed and the fire was mostly contained on the patio.

The store opened as usual on Sunday with the patio portion closed to the public.

“It looked like the whole building was on fire, but I guess it was just a couch,” Dolehide said. “The flames were high. It was scary. It looked a lot more serious than it turned out to be.”

Yellow tape surrounded the outside burned patio Sunday, but the inside of the store didn’t smell of smoke.

Jessica Cron, the store manager, and her staff, directed all questions to Starbucks’ corporate offices.

An estimate of the damage was not immediately available, but it appeared the patio furniture was all charred. There was damage to walls and the front fascia of the building.

Since it was a structure fire, East Manatee Fire & Rescue responded to the call with three fire engines and a battalion chief, said Capt. Charles Reid of East Manatee Fire & Rescue.

A report on the fire from either the East Manatee Fire & Rescue or the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office to reveal its cause was not immediately available.

“The firefighters did a great job,” Dolehide said. “They took care of it in minutes. I am from Chicago and I lost my second cousin, Boo Carey, who was a firefighter. Fire is a scary thing. I’m just glad everyone was fine. I didn’t seem like anyone was harmed.”

Lakewood Ranch residents Linda Clepper and her daughter, Laura, were stunned when they walked to the Starbucks on Sunday morning to see the yellow tape.

“First of all we were amazed to see it taped off like this,” Linda Clepper said. “We didn’t know what was going on. Then we came for a closer look and saw all this and looked up and realized it was a fire.”

“This is such a nice neighborhood; you just wouldn’t think something like this would happen,” Laura Clepper said.

Loyal to ‘their’ coffee shop

At 11:05 p.m. Saturday, Dolehide was standing outside, giving turn by turn directions to his brother, Robert, who had just arrived from Chicago and had never been to his brother’s home at the Venue condominium.

“All of the sudden, Robert screams, ‘Oh my God, the Starbucks is on fire!’ ” Dolehide said. “I immediately called 911 and, since I’m a doctor, I ran over there to lend aid. Robert called 911 also.”

Dolehide and his wife, Jessica, and daughter, Teagan, rarely go a full day without visiting that Starbucks. Teagan was enjoying a bagel there Sunday with her mother.

“It’s kind of shocking,” Jessica Dolehide said Sunday as she looked at the damage. “I’m from Chicago. Crazy stuff happens there all the time, but not so much in Lakewood Ranch.”

This story was originally published July 2, 2017 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Frequent customer calls 911 after seeing Starbucks on fire in Lakewood Ranch."