MAITLAND, Fla. – ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A local couple is searching for a new place to live after their home, filled with decades of memories, was heavily damaged in a fire Sunday afternoon near Maitland.
Orange County Fire Rescue crews responded just after 4:30 p.m. Sunday to a house fire on Avonwood Court, where firefighters found the home overwhelmed by heavy fire.
“This house has heavy fire damage. The residents will be displaced for some time,” said Thomas Rock with Orange County Fire Rescue.
Mary Godfry said she saw thick black smoke and flames rising above the neighborhood before learning it was her home. “I’ve been in that house for 25 years. I see all these homeless people around, and I don’t want to be like them,” Godfry said.
The home may look familiar to some News 6 viewers. In 2016, News 6 first featured the property after it accumulated more than $2.5 million in code enforcement fines and liens. “I would like to move back in, yes, but it’s going to take a lot to get this junk out of here,” said Bill Zorn, the homeowner.
Zorn said he inherited the property about 25 years ago and has struggled to keep up with costly repairs. “When they put a lien on the house, there was no way of getting a roof on the house and no way of getting air conditioning in the house,” Zorn said.
While investigators are still working to determine what sparked the fire, firefighters said the poor condition of the home created major challenges for crews as they worked to put out the flames. “There was a heavy fuel load — a lot of stuff inside the home when crews arrived — and it made it difficult for them to get inside and conduct an interior attack,” Rock said.
The **American Red Cross** is helping the couple with housing, food, clothing and other resources. Investigators are still working to determine what caused the fire.