The sky was lit up on the Fourth of July in Satellite Beach by both fireworks and a serious house fire, but it turns out those two events are unrelated as fire investigators have ruled out fireworks as the cause of a $385,000 fire at 690 Caribbean Rd.
Neighbors had reported that at about 9:10 p.m. a set of fireworks misfired and struck the garage door of the house and, it was thought, bounced off. Later, a glow was noted in the garage of the home and the resident was alerted of the fire at 9:23 p.m.
The resident said she had arrived home about 4:45 p.m., pulling her car in the garage without incident and did normal activities (meal preparation, laundry) before retiring to watch TV in the bedroom.
As neighbors got the resident out of the burning home, others went around the house, stretching a garden hose to the side garage door in an attempt to control the fire, according to the report.
Firefighters took an aggressive approach to knock down the flames in the garage and attic above the garage.
“There was talk about fireworks as the cause but it was ruled out, partly because of the (area of origin) of the fire,’’ said Satellite Beach Fire Chief Don Hughes.
The information was turned over to the State Fire Marshal’s Office for review and final resolution. The initial response, released by the Satellite Beach Fire Department, “determined the fire to be accidental, undetermined, however not to be caused by fireworks.”
Fire damage was extensive but contained to the garage and the attic space above the kitchen and dining room/living room. Losses were estimated as $300,000 in property and $30,000 in contents of the home.
