Fire destroys vacant mobile home in Palmetto

Firefighters from the North River Fire District responded to the scene of a mobile home fire Wednesday evening.

Just before 6 p.m. Wednesday, several 911 calls were received to report a fire in the 1600 block of 18th Avenue Drive East in Palmetto. Black smoke could be seen from U.S. 301 coming from behind Precision Boatworks, dispatchers told fire crews as they were en route.

“We responded to heavy smoke in the area. It was believed to be the boat place, so we saw the big, heavy black smoke and expected the worst,” said North River Capt. Joe. Sicking. “Luckily, it was a vacant mobile home structure.”

When firefighters first arrived, they told dispatchers they thought it was a pile of pallets that was on fire, but soon afterward crews said the heavy smoke was coming from a mobile home.

According to Sicking, the mobile home was mostly burned down when they arrived, but the fire was completely extinguished in 15 minutes. The scene was described as a scrapyard with a private owner.

There were no injuries reported, and the fire did not spread to other structures, Sicking said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Fire destroys vacant mobile home in Palmetto."