A Florida man is expressing deep gratitude to his roommates after they woke him during a New Year’s Eve house fire so intense it nearly spread to a neighboring home.
Firefighters in Fort Myers, Fla., were dispatched to a residence on Cranford Avenue near St. Charles Street at 10:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Dec. 31, according to Gulf Coast News.
Resident Tony Holmes was asleep when the fire began, but his roommates acted quickly, waking him and helping him get outside to safety. When Holmes realized what was happening, he was stunned by how rapidly the flames had taken over the house.
“It was real bad,” he said, describing heavy fire and smoke throughout the home.
Holmes told Gulf Coast News that the fire was already raging by the time help arrived, but firefighters managed to stop it just in time. “It was blazing, the fire, but they caught it,” he said. “I’m glad they caught it. They caught it just in time.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(717x423:719x425):format(webp)/firefighters-accident-071723-1-7b5d107d8af547b49ce7f5c9d99b8803.jpg)
According to the Fort Myers Fire Department, the fire originated in the roof of the house, leaving the structure unlivable for now.
“There’s a couple of people that might be displaced for a little bit, but they said they had family members that they can stay with,” said Battalion Chief Paul Dearmond.
For Holmes and his roommates, the damage was severe. One of the bedrooms was completely destroyed, leaving Holmes uncertain about where he will stay next.
Reflecting on the incident, Holmes said the fire spread quickly and came dangerously close to jumping to the neighboring home. “It was traveling pretty fast, but they got it, caught it just in time,” he said. “It would have got away with a jump to the next house here, too.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Gulf Coast News reports.
