TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. (WFLA) – The fire marshal is trying to figure out how and where a fire started Monday afternoon that torched a row of townhomes in a complex near US-19.
Tarpon Springs Fire Chief Scott Young said four of the homes on Haven Place are a total loss.
Seven families are displaced because of smoke and electrical damage in the homes where the flames didn’t burst through the roof, the chief said.
“There were people home, not sure how many at the time,” Chief Young told News Channel 8. “They all got out safely from what we can tell.”
Gianna Verrengia, 12, was home on the first day of Spring Break getting ready to go for a smoothie with her friend who lives in one of the townhomes.
“And then I saw the side of the house burning up and there’s smoke coming through the windows,” she said, “so then I instantly ran and called everyone downstairs and I just called 911.”
Once she got through to the dispatcher, “I just told them 718 Haven Place is burning down and we can’t breathe and it’s spreading,” Verrengia said.
Eagle 8HD flew over the scene as crews attacked the fire from their ladder trucks. Firefighters from neighboring communities in Pinellas County also helped get the fire under control.
The flames never reached Verrengia’s home which is at one end of the row.
“It has smoke in there still, so we can’t go in there yet,” she said.
Chief Young said the sixth grader’s quick thinking to call for help likely prevented even more property damage.
“Great job on her part,” he said. “She may have caught it early enough to not damage the rest of the (townhomes), able to just keep it to four.”
The Red Cross responded to assist the families who lost their homes in the fire.
