FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – The State Fire Marshal is investigating what caused a three-story home in Fernandina Beach to go up in flames Wednesday morning.
Officials said no one was injured.
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The fire broke out around 9 a.m. at a home on 95580 Burney Road, located off of A1A. The homeowner is Carlton Jones, a well-known developer in Jacksonville.
Jones said this is one of two homes he owns and that his son usually stays at this residence. He said his son was taking his daughter to school when the fire broke out, so no one was inside at the time of the fire.
Fire crews from Nassau County, Fernandina Beach, and Jacksonville responded to the call.
The entire roof collapsed through all three floors of the home and while officials said it isn’t a total loss, there is a lot of damage. The estimates released Thursday were that at least $1 million in damage was done to the home.
The state fire marshal said that the fire started in the third level of the home, close to the attic area. The fire marshal does not suspect foul play or arson and said the fire appears to be accidental.
Officials improvements made to the home's air conditioning system appear to have contributed to the cause of the fire, but the exact cause has not been determined.
The wet weather conditions Wednesday made it difficult for crews, but after more than five hours, everything was completely out.
According to Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper, witnesses saw huge flames and smoke rising out of the three-story home which was quickly spreading.
Scott Clark saw the fire after it broke out right before emergency crews arrived.
“Our first concern was we hope nobody was hurt,” said Clark. “It has a clay tile roof on it, and when we left out from our RV going to the store, you could see flames billowing out up to maybe 10 or 12 feet through the roof and smoking like crazy.”
Officials said the windy conditions can make it tough to fight the fire and also could cause embers to fly over to adjoining properties and start other fires.
But neighbors were lucky in this case as there were no other properties damaged.
The family has been allowed back into the property.