PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Pinellas Park firefighters are on the scene Sunday evening of a two-alarm house fire.
8 On Your Side’s Olivia Steen is at the scene of the fire, located along 82nd Avenue North just a few blocks east of 66th Street. She spoke with Pinellas Park Fire Department’s Operations Chief Rob Angell, who said the fire was through the roof of the two-story home when firefighters arrived.
“It’s a very different constructed house, a wood house,” Angell said. “The fire seems to be in the attic in the chimney. We don’t have anybody inside just because the integrity of the building. Trying to keep the firefighters safe from where it’s at.”
He told 8 On Your Side multiple units from the area, including Seminole, St. Petersburg and Largo, are rotating amongst each other to put out the fire.
Crews have been on scene for roughly an hour and are expected to remain there for the next few hours.
While firefighters haven’t determined the cause of the fire yet, Angell said the back part of the home has collapsed. All occupants of the home are safe and no injures have been reported.
“This is a very big constructed house. The gentleman who built it, he built it good, he did a good job. It’s heavily wooded so we have a lot of guys fighting it right now, trying to put the fire out,” he said.
Nick Hastings was on his way home when he noticed the fire and pulled over to see what was going on.
“You could literally just see mounds and mounds of smoke and fire just coming from the top of the second-story of this house,” Hastings told 8 On Your Side. “It hurts to see somebody’s investment go down like that.”
He also shared his well-wishes to the family that calls the residence home.
“Man, whoever lives there I hope to God they lived and any pets or any family members, whatever the case may be, hopefully they weren’t home,” he said. “It’s also more shocking that it’s on the spookiest day of the year.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for the latest developments.