House next to fire station burns down

When Jimmy McMillan of Orlando woke up at around 3am, he noticed flames coming from the house next to him. "The fire was over the house in the trees and I seen it come over here," he said. "They came and knocked on my door and told me to evacuate because of the fire next door. So we got out as quick as we could."

Firefighters were heading to a medical call when they saw that a house adjacent to the station was engulfed in flames. They dispatched crews right away. But neighbours are wondering why firefighters didn't notice the fire sooner. "This is one of the busiest (fire station) houses in the nation ... very, very, busy." said Orange Fire Rescue spokesman Lt Mark Smothers.



"Obviously we don't have people standing on the roof all night long looking for fires. We rely on the public and rely on our own senses to see fire." Lt. Smothers said crews had come back from one call and were preparing for another inside Station 50 when the fire broke.

"It is uncommon for a house to burn down and certainly is a curiosity for a house to burn down so close to a fire station," said Lt. Smothers, "but it's fortunate that it's so close to the fire station, these people didn't lose their house," he added, gesturing to McMillan's neighbouring home.

With news video.