Fire Thought To Be Extinguished Restarts, Destroys Home

A Seminole County couple is homeless for the holidays after a fire destroyed their home Thursday morning. They lived in Sweetwater off of Magnolia Oak Drive.

Fire Safety Sidebar Generic Fire Image FIRE SAFETYStory: Fire Deaths By StateTips: For Your HomeTips: Preventing Winter FiresStory: Smoke Alarms Wake Kids?Graph: Plot Escape RoutesQuiz: Know How To Escape? Survey: Sprinkler In Every Home?Survey: Is Your Family Prepared? Strangely enough, crews had already put out a fire at the home just hours before. But, the fire rekindled and caught everyone by surprise.

"It seemed like they had it contained. It's just kind of scary to think that a few hours later the whole house is up in smoke," says neighbor Tanya Douglas.

In an instant, a couple saw their home ravaged by fire. A Seminole County crew had just extinguished a fire in the chimney a few hours earlier. But then a second fire sparked.

It happened so quickly that representatives thought arson might have been the cause.

"The sheriff deputy came by not more than about 10-15 minutes prior to the entire house going up in flames. Doesn't make much sense," says Allan Harris, Seminole County Fire Rescue.

But neighbors just couldn't believe a couple, that put so much time into improving their home, would reduce it to this.

"There's no way. I just think it's a bad accident and something got missed," says Douglas.

Investigators agree. They say the fire in the chimney rekindled once firefighters left. And, even though crews returned to check on the home several times and used thermal imaging cameras, vital information could easily have been missed.

"Unless you're actually looking down at it and pointing the thermal imaging device at it, it's hard to find a hot spot," says Det. Juan Bailey, Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations.

"It's just a shame, especially a week before Christmas," says Douglas. "You know, what do you do? What do you say? What can you offer? They've lost everything."

The homeowners were not immediately available for comment. But neighbors say they will likely have to spend the holidays at a friend's home.

No one was hurt in the fire, but investigators say the second fire made the home a complete loss, damaging more than $200,000 worth of property.