House burns to the ground in East Manatee

EAST MANATEE -- An abandoned house burned to the ground over Thursday night and Friday morning in East Manatee, according to the East Manatee Fire Rescue.

Firefighters were called to the 1,000-square-foot home in the 1600 block of Dam Road, near Lake Manatee, by a neighbor at 5:10 a.m., according to Deputy Chief Lee Whitehurst. Five units arrived to find the entire structure had burnt to the ground.

"It had been burning all night, apparently," Whitehurst said.

Whitehurst said they don't know the cause of the fire and an investigation is ongoing. There were no injuries since the home was abandoned and firefighters took care of what remained of the blaze without issues.

"It was a total loss," Whitehurst said.

Whitehurst estimated it was a loss of about $50,000.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 10:39 AM with the headline "House burns to the ground in East Manatee ."