On Oct. 18, at 2:16 p.m., a concerned resident of East Hornbeam Drive in Sabal Point noticed smoke wafting into her backyard. After walking outside, she saw that the smoke was coming from her neighbor’s house, and when there was no response to her avid knocking on their door, called 911. The fire department arrived on the scene minutes later at 2:20 p.m. and began fighting what was realized to be an attic fire that was spreading in the house.
“I went to go get the mail and saw some smoke, and I thought ‘it’s kind of strange for 2:30 in the afternoon for someone [to] have a cookout,” next-door neighbor Alexandria Galford said. “I went back inside my house and realized that my entire backyard was filled with smoke. I rang the doorbell several times, no one answered. [I] knocked heavily on the door, no one answered. I stepped back and it looked like it was getting worse, so I just went ahead and called 911.”
Shortly after Galford made the call, Seminole County dispatched a structure fire assignment, (sending fire engines, tower company and ambulances to the scene) which was able to locate the fire’s origin on the right side of the house. The firefighters hooked a hose up to the nearest fire hydrant and began ripping down ceiling and drywall to open a way to the attic.
“We got on the scene rather quick and noticed where the smoke was coming from,” fire lieutenant Ed Ruping said. “When we got on-site on Tower 112, that’s where we started opening up the ceiling so they can get water on the fire.”
The fire was eventually extinguished around three o’clock that afternoon. The team of firefighters was able to clear the area and begin fanning the smoke out of the house to assess the damage.
“They found that it was the attic and it did burn through the roof,” Seminole County Public Information Officer Doreen Overstreet said. “There were no injuries or anything, which was good, and the homeowner obviously can’t live there right now. [The fire department] is going to call in our fire investigators to find out why it started.”
The exact cause of the fire is still unknown, but because no one was home at the time of the fire, no one was hurt. In addition to saving the house, the firefighters also rescued a furry friend from the back porch of the burning house.
“We did end up getting a cat off the back porch, but there wasn’t anything inside the home,” Battalion Chief Patrick Criswell said. “We send a crew of at least two, sometimes more, in to do a primary search to make sure there are no people inside because that’s our number one concern on the scene of a house fire.”
