Fire rips through home on San Carlos Island

It took nearly two dozen firefighters to put out a fire at home on San Carlos Island. As flames shot through the roof neighbors said they were worried about their own homes catching fire. This fire happened on South Street, near San Carlos Boulevard on San Carlos Island.

One person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries as a result of the fire but, firefighters say, everyone else is doing well. The home, on the other hand, is destroyed.

Neighbors peeked outside their windows to see a house up in flames. Rosemary Davidsen lives on Fort Myers Beach.  “It’s been a real shocker to see that much destruction in such a short amount of time,” said Davidsen.

Davidsen says she got the call from a neighbor that the home had been engulfed by flames. “She said that there’s a house on fire so I got my rain slicker on and came down and realized these flames were shooting 10 feet up in the air,” she said.

It was an unforgettable sight for those who live nearby. Exie Markowsky lives across the street from the home that was destroyed. She says her prayers were answered because her home was safe.

“I just kept praying that the wind stayed that way and didn’t come over here. It’s too close to home,” Markowsky said.

Too close to home and close to Markowsky’s heart since she knows someone who lives there.

“I went and gave him a hug and I was like I don’t know what to tell you,” Markowsky said.

She just keeps thinking, what if it had been her home? “It was something else to me, I’m telling you it was just scary,” Markowsky said.

The man who lives on the bottom floor of that now destroyed home says he walked into the house and, not even two minutes later, the power went out. When he began to smell smoke, he got out immediately.

Firefighters have not yet said what caused this fire to break out.