JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two adults and a “pediatric patient” were hospitalized Saturday morning after a mobile home fire on Jacksonville Westside, firefighters said.
Capt. Eric Prosswimmer said firefighters were called to Vista Verde Street around 8:20 a.m. to the mobile home, which sustained significant damage in the fire.
Eventually, the entire home collapsed.
“One of the problems you deal with with a mobile home is they’re off grade so they also burn really fast,” Prosswimmer said. “They’re not made with the strong structure that a regular house is going to be made with.”
All three patients who were taken to the hospital are expected to be OK.
News4JAX was able to speak with the man in the home, who described what it was like trying to escape the fire with his child.
“That’s all I was worried about (was my child). I made sure to put my hands and arms over top of him to make sure he wasn’t breathing in any of the smoke because you’re supposed to stay low in the smoke,” said the man, who asked not to be identified.
The residents of that home said the entire event was traumatizing.
The man said they were asleep when the mobile home caught fire. He said his roommate helped him and his 6-year-old child escape.
“You opened the bedroom door and smoke and head flushed in, couldn’t see,” the man said. “We knew the window was there so we kicked the window out.”
He also said his roommate had stitches on both of his legs from kicking out the window.
The state fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire, and the Red Cross was called to assist one adult.