New Delhi, May 3 -- Firefighters from St. Petersburg Fire Rescue are responding to a major two-alarm fire at the University of South Florida's Marine Science Labs building in St. Petersburg on Saturday evening, with thick columns of smoke rising high into the sky and visible across a wide stretch of the city.

The blaze broke out at the USF facility located at 140 7th Avenue South, a structure that is more than 80 years old. A spokesperson for the University of South Florida confirmed to local broadcaster 10 Tampa Bay News that the smoke was emanating from the Marine Science Labs building on the St. Petersburg campus.

St. Petersburg Fire Rescue confirmed that the building had been safely evacuated ahead of the fire spreading. No injuries...