PINE ISLAND, Fla. — Pine Island firefighters tackled not one, but two fires simultaneously on Wednesday.
The first alert came around 1:53 PM for a house fire in Bokeelia, just off Missouri Street. A UPS delivery driver first spotted the fire and alerted the authorities.
Neighbor Jessica Morelli explained, “when UPS came around to deliver the package I started to notice that smoke was beginning to billow out of the roof.”
Morelli, living next door, described the swift actions that followed, “we know they have two dogs, so my husband was able to go in the side door, and he swept the house to make sure no one was home, then he pulled the two dogs out and took them over here to our house.”
Pine Island Fire Chief Benjamin Mickuleit explained that the fire was mostly contained in the attic, which required a strategic opening on the side of the building for better access.
Firefighters strategically opened the side of the attic for better access to the fire.
As this fire was being put out, another blaze erupted on the south end of Pine Island off Royal Palm Ranch Drive, approximately an hour after the first call.
Second brush fire which burned about a quarter acre.
Chief Mickuleit described the challenge: “All our units were tied up on the other side of the island, so we had to break some of those resources free, and as mentioned Cape Coral was already on its way to provide coverage because all of our units “were busy.”
No injuries were reported from either fire. Homeowners of the first fire suspect an electrical issue may have been the cause, although no official causes have been announced for either blaze.
Chief Mickuleit reminded the community that we are now in brushfire season, urging anyone who sees anything burning to call 911 as quickly as possible.
