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Explosions, materials made Winter Haven fire more dangerous

News Channel 8 photo by MICHAEL EGGER

A fire has destroyed a home on Avenue B near downtown Winter Haven.

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By PETER BERNARD

News Channel 8

Published: May 7, 2009

Updated: 05/07/2009 11:25 pm

Maggie Barnes was inside her house Thursday afternoon when she heard the first explosion. Barnes grabbed her video camera, ran outside and saw towering flames engulfing a house down the street.

"There was a second explosion by the time I got back out here," she said.

More than 40 units from three agencies responded to the 3-alarm fire at 778 Avenue B SW in Winter Haven about 4:30 p.m. The blaze was so intense that one firefighter was treated for a minor injury to his hand when the flames burned through his gloves, authorities say.

The fire completely destroyed a 30-year-old home made out of pine and damaged six nearby houses, Fire Marshal Judy Rivera said. The damaged homes are habitable.

"The creosote in that pine helped just make the fire hotter and spread faster," Rivera said.

Rivera said fire crews were concerned when the flames caused power lines to fall and ammunition stored in house to go off. The pine home also had propane tanks inside.

"We found about 20 propane tanks around the house," Rivera said. "The gentleman that lived here apparently did a lot of cooking."

Neighbor Steven Barnes said he also heard the two explosions.

"I came over here and the whole house was just totally up in flames from one end to the other," he said.

Resident Natalee Norris said the flames appeared to rise about 100 feet high. The flames were under control about 6 p.m. and firefighters remained at the scene for a few more hours checking for hotspots.

Rivera said the destroyed structure was still too hot Thursday night to determine the cause of the blaze. Investigators will return this morning.

Fire departments from Winter Haven and Auburndale, along with Polk County Fire Rescue, responded to the blaze.

Tribune reporter Ray Reyes contributed to this report.

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