TAMPA, Fla. — A sinkhole in Seffner that swallowed a man in 2013 and made national news reopened on Monday afternoon, according to officials in Hillsborough County. It's the third time the hole has opened.
Hillsborough's Code Enforcement Division Director Jon-Paul Lavandeira said engineers will be on-site at 240 Faithway Dr. in Seffner Tuesday to do a formal scientific assessment of the hole.
A sinkhole remediation contractor will also be on-site on Tuesday to draft a plan.
Tuesday morning Lavandeira said there was no evidence anyone in the area or homes are in danger. County officials notified neighbors that they may remain safely in their homes.
The hole is estimated to be 12 feet by 12 feet, Lavandeira said, and there's no evidence it grew overnight. The site is closed to the public and secured with two layers of fencing.
Lavandeira said it's not uncommon for a sinkhole to reopen like this.
The sinkhole originally opened up on the site in 2013 and took the life of 36-year-old Jeffrey Bush. His body was never recovered.
ABC Action News reported at the time that Bush was asleep in his bedroom when the hole opened, and the floor collapsed beneath him.
That same year, the sinkhole was remediated using a method designed to minimize danger to surrounding areas by containing any future reopening to the original location and preventing expansion of the opening. The county remediated the sinkhole for the second time in 2015 after it reopened again.
