No one was injured after fire ravaged the inside of a Jacksonville home Thursday night.
The Jacksonville and South Jacksonville Fire Departments were alerted to a structure fire at 872 Grove Street at approximately 7:47 last night.
Jacksonville Fire Chief Doug Sills says although the two-story home was not completely involved with fire when crews arrived, the damage could have been worse.
“Upon arrival, the entire front of the building appeared to be engulfed into the second floor. Fire crews were on scene in about three minutes, pulled lines, and got a pretty good knockdown of it. They did an excellent job of getting the fire under control and keeping the damage to what it is.”
Fire crews were on scene for approximately five hours. Sills says the cause of the fire is believed to be unintentional.
“The occupant apparently had a candle burning on the first floor in pretty close proximity to the main staircase to the second floor. He was taking down some draperies, curtains, things of that nature and was tossing them down to the first floor. They apparently knocked over the candle and set the draperies on fire.
Subsequently, once he noticed the fire he became trapped on the second floor. So he made an exit out of a rear window onto a roof section of the first floor where a neighbor noticed him and threw a ladder and assisted him down.”
According to the report, damage to the structure is estimated to be approximately $150,000, and $20,000 estimated in damage to the contents of the home. Sills says the structure may be a total loss as fire ripped through the center of the house causing damage to the main structure.
Sills says the fire was under control at approximately 8:15 pm, and the scene was cleared at approximately 12:30 am. He says a State Fire Marshal was called into the scene to investigate.
Sills says it is not believed that there was anything suspicious in nature about the fire, however, the department wanted the independent third-party investigation to verify the cause.