A fire caused by fireworks remnants seriously damaged a house at in Palm Coast’s P-Section the night of July 4, authorities reported. There were no injuries.
The fire at 31 Point of Woods Drive, a 2300-square-foot house built 10 years ago, was reported minutes after 11 p.m. as a pickup truck parked in the driveway and the house itself were on fire.
“Resident advised that spent fireworks were left in the trashcan, in between the parked vehicles in the driveway, which caught fire, causing the fire to spread to the vehicles and then the garage,” Flagler County Sheriff’s notes to 911 indicate. The Palm Coast Fire Department noted that FD “nothing suspicious was observed, with the fire starting in the driveway where the trashcan was left.”
Residents of the house quickly exited the structure as flames spread and units of the Palm Coast Fire Department and Flagler County Fire Rescue responded. The garage was fully engulfed in flames within six minutes of the fire being reported, and firefighters were actively fighting the fire within eight minutes, according to 911 notes.
Firefighters also reported active flames in parts of the interior of the house. Though the flames appeared contained to the garage very soon after firefighters were on the scene, the firefighters reported fire in the attic, and parts of the ceiling falling in.
“Crews diligently contained the fire damage to the garage, preventing further spread. The home sustained significant smoke and water damage,” the Palm Coast Fire Department reported.
An hour after the fire was initially reported, the fire was reported out, and “dead out” at 2:42 a.m., the morning of July 5, with “all operations complete,” when the house was turned over to its residents.
Units Involved were Engine 21, Engine 29, Ladder 25, and Battalion 25 from the Palm Coast Fire Department, and
Rescue 21, Engine 51, and Tender 92 from Flagler County Fire Rescue.
The house last sold a little over a year ago for $370,000, according to the property appraiser’s records.
Concerned Citizen says
I am glad everyone made it out. And that there were no injuries to the responsible party. Or first responders.
Now hopefully some sort of legal charges will be forthcoming. And the homeowners will be billed for emergency response. As this was PURE NEGLIGENCE.
Jimbo99 says
At least they were trying to be environmentally conscious by picking up the trash & debris from the road or their driveway. End of the day though, the rest of us that abide by the ordinances don’t want this going on around our homes. If one does this, shoot the fireworks over your own homes. That way they’ll be the only one’s displaced for a house fire. and don’t shoot the fireworks into or over a treeline, nobody wants a forest fire either. Think it thru, man.
Nephew Of Uncle Sam says
Fireworks didn’t cause this fire, just plain human ignorance did. Might as well have been an ashtray that still had burning cigarettes in it. Every year they say pour water on your fireworks, make sure they are completely extinguished, after they are done before disposing of properly.
Oh well… says
And I have zero sympathy. Fireworks are illegal in Palm Coast. Perhaps if we had an actual police force and didn’t rely on the county sheriff’s department, they could’ve done actual patrols, stopped this person, took away their paraphernalia, and fined them before they damaged their house. They are extremely lucky they didn’t damage their neighbor’s house and there was no loss of animal or human life.
Selfish people. What they find “fun” is dangerous simply because they are irresponsible and most likely inebriated. They are not trained professionals and have no business disturbing their neighbors with vibrations so loud they shake windows and floors. My ears rang for most of Wednesday with all the cannons that were going off directly next door. My windows shook and rattled. My feet vibrated. My animals were shaking and terrified. I have all the illegal festivities saved from my Ring camera. Perhaps I should work in my lawnmower at 3 AM, w/my stereo cranked. Oh wait, I’d actually get in trouble for that but not for the dangerous fireballs going over dry houses where all it takes is a spark.
We’re a residential town. All of us crammed on top of each other. You have no idea the trauma one of your neighbor’s has—a war veteran, someone that was an abuse victim, animals, etc. Honestly, I’m surprised that no one has snapped yet from a flashback of being in war. My uncle did one year (not here). Came out of the house with his gun screaming, “Where’s the Viet-Cong? Where are they?” And he ran through the woods screaming and firing his gun. It took us hours to calm him down and help him place himself in the present.
Selfish, ignorant, disrespectful people.
Denali says
So if the setting off of fireworks is truly illegal will this arsonist be properly charged? Will he be responsible for his loss and the cost of extinguishing his self-set fire? I have never seen a homeowner’s policy which provided coverage for illegal acts by the owner. Does the insurance carrier pay off when a crack kitchen explodes? Did not think so. Hopefully the 15 minutes of fun were worth what could be a substantial expense for the home repairs and reimbursing the fire department for their services. Fortunately no one was injured and no other property was damaged due to this boneheads ignorance and carelessness. And no, he does not get bonus points for cleaning up the mess he made by setting off the fireworks – that was his obligation.
Me says
Glad no one was injured, a house can be repaired. People please leave the fireworks to the professionals.
The Geode says
Only if they had an angry neighbor with a gun…
M says
These comments are so exaggerated. Your “feet vibrated” lol that’s hilarious. The everyday thunderstorms are much louder than the fireworks set off on basically 2 days of the year. I feel sorry for the people so miserable that literally everything bothers them.
Realist says
If fireworks are illegal, why do we allow them to be sold in Walmart parking lot?
Concerned Citizen says
Yesterday (Sun July 9th) We had folks two streets over shooting off the rest of their mortars. They started around 6:30 PM. And ran well past mid night. Some of the blasts literally shook the windows on the house.
Annoying yes. Disrespectful? After a certain time yes. Driving home from work this morning I took a turn over to see where it was. And boxes were left by the curb of near professional grade stuff. Along with a lot of debris in the road. Also disrespectful.
One or two days a year of this I’m fine with. But I don’t get a lot of Sunday evenings off. And it’s nice when they are quiet and enjoyable.