State Fire Marshal's Office investigates after 2 homes burn in Kissimmee

Flames from home reach house next door because of heavy winds

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The State Fire Marshal's Office is investigating a double house fire in Kissimmee on Friday.

The fire was reported around 5:30 p.m. on Silver Lake Drive.

Fire officials said a home caught on fire and because of heavy winds, the flames reached the house next door.

"The whole house was, like, full of smoke in, like, five seconds. It was crazy," said a resident of one of the homes, who asked to not be identified. "I went to open the door and they were yelling to get out, get out, get out. So I had to go back in and grab my kids because they were all over the place."

The resident said their family, with two children, moved in three weeks ago.

Several residents told News 6 that without any fire hydrants on the street, they fear fires take longer to put out.

"Send letter out to the commissioner or whoever and tell them we need fire hydrants out here. You know? Because we have nothing. By the time the Fire Department gets out, the house is on fire. It's gone," resident Doris Alexander said.

Fire officials also said that going around the block to access a hydrant on Friday was an added challenge, but said the damage would not have been prevented.

"The access of the hydrant, because it's a long distance from here, did affect to our extent of reaching the fire quickly, but remember, our apparatus comes already with water. So the firefighting efforts were already in place before the water was established," Osceola County Fire Division Chief Ivan Mustafa said.

According to neighbors, a woman lives alone in the home that initially caught fire, and three adults and two children live in the second home.

The State Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the cause of the fire.


About the Author:

Troy graduated from California State University Northridge with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. He has reported on Mexican drug cartel violence on the El Paso/ Juarez border, nuclear testing facilities at the Idaho National Laboratory and severe Winter weather in Michigan.