The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department responded to reports of a house fire in the 1900 block of Phoenix Avenue about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
It was reported that two people living in the home were able to egress out of the house safely.
"There was heavy fire and smoke conditions," said Chief Adrian Johnson, the incident commander, "Smoke was pushed out of the building. The roof started to sag and walls were pushed out." A dozen local firefighters are safe and uninjured thanks to the quick thinking of their Fire Chief.
No one was injured due to the actions of incident commander Chief Adrian Johnson and the other district chiefs on scene, Fire Chief Martin Senterfitt said.
"This type of fire -- across the nation -- typically can be a firefighter killer," Fire Chief Martin Senterfitt said. "... Roof collapse is one of the things we fear the most."
The last firefighter left the building about 90 seconds before parts of the roof collapsed.
Firefighters were able to get the fire under control but the roof did collapse during the incident. Firefighters also had to employ defensive tactics to protect surrounding property as they could no longer go into the home and directly fight the fire.
No one was hurt in the fire or during firefighting operations.
The State Fire Marshal is investigating.
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)
