Bell home ravaged by fire last Tuesday

By Carrie A. Mizell

No one was injured in an electrical fire that caused $20,000 worth of damage to a Bell home last Tuesday afternoon.
Deborah Deleonardo reportedly called 911 when she noticed flames coming up from a vent in the floor of her home, which is reportedly two single-wide mobile homes put together.
When she arrived on-scene, Linda Walker, who is emergency medical services chief for Gilchrist County, found Deleonardo spraying water through a broken window with a garden hose.
In an incident report, Walker stated that when she arrived on scene there was heavy smoke with visible flames in the west corner of the structure where the two homes joined.
Deleonardo told Walker that after seeing flames coming up from the floor vent, she pulled some of the siding away from the structure and saw flames in the wall of the home.
According to Walker, the homeowner had already shut the main breaker off in the panel box before firefighters arrived on scene. Thankfully the home’s gas tank and kitchen were located at the opposite end of the home from where the fire started.
When Engine 1 arrived on scene, firefighters were able to extinguish the flames. According to Walker, most of the fire damage occurred in the front room of the home. Damages to the contents of the home totaled $5,000.