Last Updated: March 15, 10:15 a.m.
A fire severely damaged a two-story single-family house at 1909 North Oceanshore Boulevard (A1A) in Flagler Beach Tuesday evening and injured a firefighter, Flagler Beach Fire Chief Stephen Cox said.
The homeowners were at home when they heard fire alarms go off, saw smoke, and called 911 at 6:45 p.m. Smoke was rising from the roof when Flagler Beach’s Engine 11 got to the scene moments later.
“Engine 11 went into offensive mode and we were having some difficulties getting access to the fire due to the insulation,” Cox said, “but we were finally able to gain access and through certain tactical measures, were able to extinguish the fire. But we unfortunately did have one firefighter injury. That firefighter was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.” The injury was “non-traumatic,” Cox said. He did not release the identity of the firefighter.
“The top floor of the structure received significant damage due to the extent of the fire in the attic and fire operations,” the chief said. The 2,500-square-foot house on an 8,100-square-foot property is owned by Annette and Manuel Levine, who bought the property in 2012 but have lived there permanently only in the last few years after moving here from Boca Raton. The property has a just market value of $886,000, according to the county property appraiser.
The Palm Coast Fire Department and Flagler County Fire Rescue assisted, as did the Flagler Beach Police Department, which shut down A1A in that area for several hours. The operation was over at 11 p.m.
“The state fire marshal along with our fire investigator were on scene. The cause of the fire was deemed electrical,” Cox said. “For this situation, they believe the contributing factor was an overloaded outlet with three-way plug-in adapters. Our recommendation would be to not overload your electrical outlets and make sure they’re rated for whatever device they’re plugged into.”
The Levines dispute the preliminary findings, and say their insurer has not pinned blame on overloaded outlets. “We barely had anything plugged in,” Manuel Levine said. “I don’t think it was a thorough investigation.” He referred to a contractor’s repair work after Hurricane Irma in 2017 that may have driven nails into the wall, damaging circuitry.
The house is not a loss, Cox said, “but it just received significant damage, which is going to require mitigation and renovation.” It also dislodged the homeowners. The American Red Cross assisted them.
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