Massive Sinkhole Opens in Seffner

A giant sinkhole that opened up in between two Seffner homes Friday night has continued to expand as attention turns toward stabilizing the land.

At last estimate the hole off Clay Pit Road was about 27 feet deep by 22 feet wide, according to Jon-Paul Lavandeira, director of Hillsborough County’s Rapid Response Team.

“It has grown since those initial measures were taken,” Lavandeira told Patch. A new measurement has not been taken due to safety concerns.

Since the hole opened up on private property, the property owners and their insurance companies are responsible for addressing the necessary mitigation work, Lavandeira said. The county, however, has put up fences around the hole to help ensure safety and has vacated homes near the sinkhole.

“We working with them so that they can get this done,” Lavandeira said of the homeowners.

How soon mitigation work might get started remains unclear. Lavandeira said that insurance company representatives were expected to visit the site Monday.

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The Seffner area is known for sinkhole activity. Back in August, a sinkhole opened up at 240 Faithway Drive that was estimated to be about 17 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The hole developed in the exact location where a 2013 sinkhole opened up and swallowed a man who was in bed.

Jeffrey Bush, 36, was asleep around 11 p.m. Feb. 28, 2013, when the ground opened up beneath his home and swallowed him, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Larry McKinnon said at the time.

“It’s a movie scene behind there,” said McKinnon. “That’s what it is.”

McKinnon said Bush’s mother was asleep in another room when she heard a loud crunching sound. When she rushed to her son’s room, she saw that the entire floor had caved in and her son was gone.

An extensive search was conducted for Bush, but his body was never recovered.

File photo of the sinkhole at 240 Faithway Drive courtesy of Hillsborough County