Unattended fire pit ignites fire to Homosassa residence scheduled for demolition
Homosassa, Florida - On Monday, January 30, 2023 at 2:05 pm, Citrus County Fire Rescue responded to S. Maxwell Pt. in Homosassa, due to the report of a small brush fire. Firefighters arrived on scene to find a double wide mobile home partially involved with fire.
Crews conducted a 360-degree inspection of the property and secured the power. The power company arrived on scene to disconnect power. Crews began extinguishing the brush fire behind the residence. Additional crew members conducted an interior search to find no people inside the residence and began to attack the fire within the residence.
The fire was brought under control as of 2:29 pm, and the last unit cleared the scene at 4:04 pm. The fire was isolated to an area on the rear side wall and door of the residence. Damages were estimated at approximately $6,400 for the property and the contents of the home. No injuries were reported.
The homeowner advised fire personnel that the mobile home was scheduled to be demolished soon. The residents said that the previous day, they'd been burning debris in a fire pit at the rear of the residence and thought the fire had been thoroughly extinguished before they'd left the residence.
The fire is believed to be accidental, and evidence indicated it was started by an ember from the unattended burn pit due to strong winds that spread the fire, catching the back wooden porch of the residence on fire.
Firefighters from the Homosassa, Sugarmill Woods and Connell Heights fire stations responded to the scene, along with a Safety Captain.
Citrus County Fire Rescue can be contacted by phone at (352) 527-5406, or 911 within Citrus County, Florida in the event of an emergency. Visit online at www.CitrusCountyFire.com, Facebook.com/CitrusCountyFireRescue, or Twitter.com/CitrusCoFire.