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In Sarasota County, Florida, a tragic house fire claimed the life of a woman, prompting her son to share their heartbreaking story. The family home, cherished for many years, was engulfed in flames, leading to this devastating loss.
The Sarasota County Fire Department reported that the blaze ignited around 7:32 p.m. on Tuesday evening, located on the 4100 block of Arrow Place within the Nottingham subdivision. Upon arrival, firefighters confronted intense flames and thick smoke, necessitating a second alarm to tackle the situation. By approximately 8:08 p.m., the fire was finally subdued.
Benjamin Alvarez recounted the moment he realized something was wrong. As he was inside the house, he detected smoke and traced it back to a small fire near an electrical outlet.
“My mom woke up and exclaimed, ‘Oh my God, there’s a fire here!’” Alvarez recalled. “I rushed to find something to extinguish it, but it had already spread up the curtains and was advancing across the room.”
“My mom woke up, and she said, ‘Oh my God, there’s a fire here!’ And I immediately ran to go and get something to try and put it out,” Alvarez said. “It had already gone up the curtains and was coming across.”
Alvarez said his mother, who could not walk, was about six feet from the door when the fire intensified.
“The daybed that she was sleeping on that she was laying on was about six feet from the door, and my plan was to open the back door into, you know, pull her out, but I didn’t have time. The flames were too intense. I couldn’t even see. It was so black,” he said.
He said his mother became unable to speak as the fire grew.
“She had said that she was feeling the heat, and then she couldn’t speak anymore because the smoke and the fire had already reached her,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez was able to rescue his aunt.
The family had four cats. Two lived, one died and the other is nowhere to be found, according to Alvarez.
“I ran out the back door, came around to the other exit that we have that goes directly to the master bedroom where my aunt was at, and I banged on that door, and I got her out, and apparently some of our cats ran out at some point,” he said.
Alvarez said he is now recovering from burns and said he and his aunt have been supported by neighbors and friends after the aftermath.
“I’ve got neighbors taking care of our cats. We have neighbors that are volunteering to go and help clear debris. My friends are like one of them has been letting me stay with them,” he said. “Another friend drove all the way to Tampa when I came out of here, because of the burns on my face. They sent me to Sarasota Memorial, who had an abundance of caution, sent me up to the burn trauma in Tampa, and I was released the next day.”
Alvarez hopes the home will be able to undergo repairs, but knows it won’t be easy.
“My hope is, is that a lot of the side areas can be salvaged and that it is mostly tearing down the drywall and rebuilding the entire center, perhaps some of the roof, but that’s going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most likely,” Alvarez explained.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.