CORAL SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) - An investigation is underway after an overnight fire tore through a Coral Springs home.
The Fine family lived in that house for about 21 years and revisited the place they called home to salvage what they could, Tuesday afternoon.
They did what they could in an attempt to save the house, including using a garden hose, but the fire was too large.
The Coral Springs Parkland Fire Department responded to the home along Northwest 17th Court and 107th Drive, sometime before 1 a.m., Tuesday.
Upon their arrival, firefighters found heavy smoke and flames shooting through the roof of the home. The fire has since been put out.
The home sustained extensive damage – parts of the roof collapsed, and the front of the home appeared to be completely gutted. Two cars were parked in the home’s driveway at the time of the blaze. The front bumper and headlights on one of the vehicles were melted from the heat of the flames.
“It’s awful,” said neighbor Michelle Benz. “Billowing smoke, it was awful.”
Firefighters said the fire began in the garage.
“That fire in the garage quickly spread up to the attic and within a very short amount of time, the fire was already in the attic, and pretty much, a majority of the house was on fire at that point,” said Mike Moser of Coral Springs Fire Rescue.
“It was in the electrical box. It shot up to the attic, and within seconds, the whole house went up,” said family member Deanna Bloom. “There was nothing anybody could have done. There’s no way to prepare for it. They did everything they could. I’m just glad my family’s safe.”
Twenty-one-year-old Kayliegh Fine, who lives at the home with her parents, said she was in the garage at the time the fire started.
“I went to put a piece of plastic in the recycle bin, and I saw a spark,” said Kayliegh said. “It’s amazing how quickly it caught. It was tiny, and then I go back in there with the water, and it was already at the roof and the door open, and there was smoke everywhere.”
Kayliegh said her father attempted to put out the fire before he was forced to flee the home.
“We ran out the back door. My dad was still in the garage trying to fight it, and we screamed for him to get out, and he got out,” she said.
Although the entire family made it out alive, they are now working to retrieve what belongings they can, and are searching for three missing cats. Two birds and two other cats were killed in the fire.
“I’m mind blown, ’cause the last time I came home was Christmas, and it didn’t look like this,” said Rebecca Fine, a former resident of the home. “It’s a little overwhelming but trying to stay positive.”
Rebecca drove down from Orlando as soon as she got the call. “Everyone is physically OK, mentally not so much,” she said. “Everyone is very upset. It has been very hard.”
The family is now hopeful that they can find their beloved cats and rebuild their life. “If we can find the cats, I feel like that would be the silver lining in all of this,” Rebecca said.
The Fine family has insurance, and according to the contractor, the walls inside the house are still solid. The house, however, needs to be gutted, and the roof needs to be replaced.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help the family recover from the fire.
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