Lake & Leesburg Firefighters Work to Put Out A House Fire on A Rainy Monday

Leesburg, FL – Lake County & Leesburg Firefighters saved a burning home and helped a homeowner narrowly escape the smoke and flames during a rainy Monday afternoon in Leesburg. Firefighters were summoned around 1:30 PM on Monday afternoon to a house on fire on Joanies Run in Leesburg near the mall area. Lake County fire crews arrived within 3 minutes of being dispatched to find heavy smoke pouring from the home and a hot fire condition inside and a report of the home owner trapped inside. “Live safety is our top priority. The firefighters on the first arriving engine entered the house for search and rescue” reports Lt. Brian Gamble, Vice President of the Professional Firefighters of Lake County. “While they were inside searching for the reported trapped person, others did a walk around of the outside of the house. As they passed the back of the house, they found the homeowner on the back porch trying to fight back the flames inside with a garden hose.” The firefighters pulled the homeowner off the porch to a safe area.

Firefighters were able to enter the house to fight the blaze and brought it under control within 20 minutes. “Lake County and Leesburg teamed up to save this house. There was significant heat and flames coming from the house which did cause some damage to contents, but overall a save for the homeowner. Fortunately we had a great response in this area with Leesburg and Lake County having stations close by. When you have that many firefighters arriving quickly, it really can affect the outcome in a positive way.”

Additionally, fire hydrants lined the street and one was connected to one of the fire trucks to supply water. “Having hydrants for a water supply is definitely a plus. Many times we have to rely on our tankers to supply water in the rural areas. While they may have lost some belongings, today was a positive outcome for this homeowner with a quick knock down of the fire resulting in saving the house.”

Lake County Fire Investigator Captain Mike Vitta is investigating the cause of the fire.