A man and his dog escaped a home that caught fire early Saturday morning.
Jacksonville Police and Fire were paged out for a structure fire at 3:43 Saturday morning to a single-story home located at 4 Fayette Court.
Jacksonville Fire Department Lieutenant Dan Klendworth says that crews were able to confine the blaze to just a few rooms of the home: “Upon arrival, the front window and the back kitchen window were both self-vented so there was fire pretty much just in the living room and the kitchen. It had not spread to the bedrooms. The occupant of the home had gotten out with his dog. He said that he was sleeping on the couch and the smell woke him up. He did not have any alerting detectors. He tried to go look for an extinguisher and he couldn’t find one. He went out to the garage, which is connected to his kitchen and called 9-1-1 right away, then went to the neighbor’s house. Upon arrival, we put it out pretty quick with a hose line and checked to see if anybody else was inside the home. We were on scene for about an hour searching for any extension and making sure it was completely put out.”
No injuries were reported. Final fire crews were able to leave the scene at approximately 5AM Saturday. Klendworth and the homeowner both say that a stove that had been left on had burned a pan of grease leading to the likely origin to the fire.
Klendworth says he was still working on the report to provide an estimate of damages. He says the homeowner will be staying at a nearby friend’s home as the single-story structure is now uninhabitable.