When smoke and flames tore through a three-story building on 3rd Street South in Jacksonville Beach, Stacy Rogers says her husband went back inside to help neighbors escape. He helped residents still inside make it out.
The fire broke out the afternoon of May 10, 2026, at a mixed-use building on 3rd Street South, a structure that housed three residential apartments above ground-floor businesses, including a smoke shop, with Black Label Tattoo on the second floor, according to First Coast News. Rogers told News4JAX that she gathered her daughter and granddaughters as smoke and flames spread through the building, while her husband went back in to help residents still inside make it out.
Rogers gathered her daughter and granddaughters as smoke and flames spread. Her husband went back inside to help residents still in the building escape.
Building Left Heavily Damaged, Residents Displaced
The fire displaced at least six people. Rogers' family has lost its home as they try to figure out what comes next.
Charles McNinch, who ran Black Label Tattoo on the building's second floor and lived on the first floor, lost his home, his business, and three pets in the fire, First Coast News reported — though emergency responders confirmed no residents were injured or killed. The Red Cross was assisting displaced residents, News4JAX reported, while tenants faced the harder task of getting back to work and finding permanent housing.
Fire Marshal Weighs Possible Causes as Tenants Point to Electrical Problems
Jacksonville Beach Fire Marshal David Rice said investigators are evaluating several potential causes, including a lithium battery charger and electrical issues that building occupants had reported before the fire, according to News4JAX. As of the latest reporting, fire investigators had not released a determined cause, and the landlord could not be reached for comment.
Residents had complained about electrical problems in the building, and one believed faulty wiring caused the fire.
Florida law requires certain newly installed or replacement battery-powered smoke alarms in one-family or two-family dwellings and townhomes to have sealed, non-removable 10-year batteries, with exceptions, according to the Golm Law Firm. Separately, a federal HUD rule that took effect at the end of 2024 requires federally assisted rental housing to maintain hardwired or sealed 10-year battery smoke alarms in every bedroom, sleeping hallway, and building level, per the Orlando Housing Authority.
A Wider Pattern Across Duval County
The Jacksonville Beach blaze adds to a steady caseload for the region's fire crews — the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department responded to 940 structure fires across its 885-square-mile coverage area in 2025, according to the First Coast Observer. The department holds an Insurance Services Office Class 1 rating, a designation held by roughly one percent of fire departments nationwide that helps hold down property insurance costs across Duval County, according to the City of Jacksonville.
Recent incidents have left Duval County renters facing fire damage and building problems. In a Belmont apartment fire in August, seven residents were displaced, and a ceiling collapsed at Calloway Cove.
Rogers and her family are seeking donations after losing their home.
