- April 19, 2024
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Updated 10:30 p.m.:
Four people were displaced June 3 when a fire destroyed the electrical system in a three-story multifamily building at the northwest corner of Oceanshore Boulevard at North Ninth Street. No one was injured, but the building may be uninhabitable for months.
"Nobody was hurt, and that's what really matters," said Anne Donahoe, 32 and a resident of the building. "But it's terrible. It really is devastating."
Donahoe, manager at Tortugas Florida Kitchen & Bar, said she was able to get her dog out of the building, and would be staying with local friends and family while the building is repaired.
A second dog and a cat were also rescued, witnesses said.
Flagler Beach Fire Department Captain Bobby Pace said enough of the structure was intact that residents would be able to enter later to gather some personal belongings.
It wasn't clear exactly how the fire started, Pace said, but it began outside and then spread to all three floors in the rear of the building. "There's speculation that it was electrical, underground, and set the brush on fire," he said.
The Flagler County Sheriff's Office and Flagler Beach Police Department closed off Oceanshore Boulevard between North Ninth Street and North 12th Street as about a dozen firefighters on four fire trucks — Flagler County Engine 92, Flagler Beach Ladder 11, Flagler Beach Engine 11 and Palm Coast Engine 25 — arrived to fight the blaze.
By about 7:30 p.m., the flames were out and the roadblock removed, and firefighters were removing charred material from the rear of the building, where the fire had started, to keep it from rekindling. Rescue personnel called the Red Cross to the scene to help the displaced residents, Pace said.
