DAYTONA BEACH NEWS JOURNAL

Electrical fire damages New Smyrna house
By CINDY F. CRAWFORD (cindy.crawford@news-jrnl.com)
Staff Writer
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- An electrical fire caused heavy damage Saturday afternoon to a home on Ocean Avenue , but no one was injured, a Fire Department spokesman said.

Neighbors called 911 at 12:09 p.m., saying the roof of the small white home was engulfed in black smoke, said spokesman Kevin Roberts.

When firefighters arrived at 507 Ocean Ave., the fire had spread through the attic and sparked flames in a middle bedroom, which destroyed bedding and furniture there, he said.

Part of the roof collapsed before firefighters could put the fire out. Much of the home's interior suffered smoke damage, Roberts said.

City Fire Marshal Mike Bosse determined the cause to be an electrical short from a wire in the attic.

The only occupant, Burgess Sams, was in Texas visiting relatives at the time, Roberts said. Neighbors living two houses away who take care of the home in his absence watched firefighters battle the flames from their driveway.

Saturday's fire was the second at the home in five years. A short in a ceiling fan wire caused the previous fire, resulting in moderate damage to the home built in the 1960s, Roberts said.