Firefighters Save House In Astatula Facing Fire in the Walls and Floor

Astatula, FL - Lake County Firefighters battled two house fires on Wednesday. The first house fire was reported around 9:46 in the morning on Orange Blossom Street in Astatula. Firefighters from station 77 in Astatula, as well as Lake Jem, Bassville Park, and Ferndale quickly responded and arrived within minutes to find fire and heavy smoke rolling out from underneath the doublewide mobile home. The firefighters entered the house to find coming out of most of the floor vents. They quickly extinguished the fire inside, but faced a challenge of being able to access under the mobile home where the majority of the fire was still burning. Lt. Brian Gamble, Vice President of the Professional Firefighters of Lake County explains, “They were able to put out the fire inside the house pretty quickly. However, it is not easy crawling under a home with all our firefighting gear on and with hoses to put the fire out under there. The brisk wind kept the fire fueled too. This was a very extensive overhaul situation when you are chasing fire in the floors and the walls”.

After extensive efforts and cutting holes in the floor, the fire was extinguished. “We were able to save the majority of the house, which is remarkable for a mobile home. However, the home did experience a lot of smoke damage inside and damage underneath and on the outer shell.” The Lake County Fire Investigator is still investigating the cause of the blaze. The homeowner and a bystander were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation but were not transported to the hospital.

A second fire broke out in Paisley later in the afternoon. A double wide mobile home was destroyed by the blaze despite firefighter’s efforts to extinguish the fire. The house was well involved before firefighters arrived on scene. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.