Smoke and flames show the March 1, 1908 fire as it spread over 55 acres of Ybor City.

The 1908 fire that swept Ybor City on a windy Sunday in March leveled 18 1/2 blocks of homes, businesses and cigar factories.

About 2,000 residents were left homeless.

That landmark blaze is the subject of an upcoming exhibit at the Ybor City State Museum, 1818 Ninth Ave. Coincidentally, many of the museum's current artifacts had to be evacuated as Friday's fire threatened to spread.

The exhibit, ``The Catastrophic Fires of Ybor City,'' is currently on display at the Tampa Bay History Center, 225 S. Franklin St.

Museum Society executive director Melinda Chavez spoke of the near disaster as she finished restoring objects in the onetime bakery that now operates under the auspices of the state Division of Recreation and Parks.

The museum stands only a few blocks from the site of the far-ranging 1908 fire, which destroyed buildings from 16th Street to 20th Street and from 12th Avenue north to Michigan Avenue - today's Columbus Drive.

That one started in a boarding house at 1914 12th Ave. Water pressure problems plagued firefighters from the beginning.

Fire Chief Tucker Savage later told city councilmen the strongest stream of water ``did not reach the seat of the fire.'' Cedar shingles from nearby houses billowed into the area like incendiary bombs.

Frightened residents tried to gather possessions as the flames approached.

Many piled belongings into the street, but that simply provided more fuel for the onrushing inferno.

An ``extra'' edition of the Tribune published that day reported firemen exploded dynamite in an effort to block the blaze, but it proved ineffective.

Even brick buildings, such as the Stachelberg cigar factory, where 300 workers were employed, could not withstand the intense heat.

Five factories were destroyed, along with 42 business buildings and 171 homes. The 1908 fire damage was estimated at $1 million, with only half covered by insurance.

An 1891 fire - ``almost forgotten by our generation,'' according to Judge E.J. Salcines of the 2nd District Court of Appeal, who spoke recently on the subject - threatened the Sanchez y Haza cigar factory.

The 1891 fire, confined to two blocks of early Ybor City, brought ``consternation, soul-searching and reform,'' Salcines said. In the aftermath, brick became the preferred material for factory buildings.

The fire started in the Aurelio Campos restaurant on Seventh Avenue between 14th and 15th streets.

Wooden structures also were a major factor in the virtual destruction of Jacksonville in 1901.

Historian Canter Brown Jr. has pointed out that the Jacksonville fire blackened 10 to 15 times the acreage affected by Ybor City's 1908 blaze.