Bradenton house fire leaves 4 homeless

A Bradenton house fire left four people without a home.

The small, renovated building behind a home on 36th Avenue West is still standing, but evidence of the flames is visible from the street. A burned mattress sat in front of the home Thursday morning.

About 5:09 p.m. Wednesday, Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue units responding to the 2900 block of 36th Avenue West found heavy flames and smoke coming from a house. Within 15 minutes, firefighters had the blaze under control, according to a news release from the fire department.

No one was injured.

Theresa Perri, who lives in an apartment that shares a driveway with the home, was bundled up in the frigid air Thursday morning, peeking outside to see the damage. From her front door, she could glimpse the damage and fears her home could be next. She and another woman walked around the property, inspecting the full effects of the flames.

“I just feel so bad for them,” Perri said of the two adults and two children, now without a home.

Perri has been staying home sick from work and was boiling water for tea Thursday morning. She feared leaving it alone too long, in case something should happen. Seeing the home just across the driveway go up in flames has left her nervous.

Wednesday afternoon, Perri said she was walking her dog and didn’t see anything when she returned with her small poodle mix. She remembered that a neighbor came to her door around 5 p.m., urging her to get out of her house as the building across the driveway burned.

After an investigation, the fire department ruled the cause of the fire, which did an estimated $100,000 in damage, was “undetermined.”

Red Cross officials responded to the scene to provide assistance to two adults and two children who lived in the home.

This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 6:31 AM with the headline "Bradenton house fire leaves 4 homeless."