Man dies in Reflection Lakes house fire

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LEE COUNTY, Fla.- The State Fire Marshal is investigating after a house fire in the Reflection Lakes community left one man dead.

It happened around midnight in the 14000 block of Reflection Lakes Drive in the Estates at Reflection Lakes subdivision.

The South Trail Fire Department tells WINK News they found one man dead in the back of the home. The home is part of a duplex but the other unit was not damaged.

South Trail Assistant Fire Chief Bengston described the conditions when firefighters first arrived. He says, “we had about 20 foot flames shooting out through the roof, it already self vented through  the roof which means it’s freely burning on the inside. The firefighters went to work immediately, toward the end there was fire blowing out all the windows, all the sides and they just went for an aggressive fire attack at that point.”

Just after midnight, Peter Letsos noticed the home down the street was on fire.

“I ran over, it was just instinct. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Letsos says he desperately tried to get inside, looking for anyone who may be living there,but the flames were just too much.

“Garage door was open. I ran straight in, kicked open the door and just smoke and fire hit me in my face. I got knocked to the ground, couldn’t breathe.”

“Did I get here in time? No. Could I have got here in time? Could I have been two minutes early, could I have seen the flames sooner? Anything.”

Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire and have not released the man’s identity.

 

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