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Highlands Today

Two House Fires Dispatched Downtown

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By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: August 21, 2008

SEBRING - The cause of a fire that destroyed the Warren House in downtown Sebring on Tuesday afternoon was still under investigation Wednesday, according to fire officials.

The smell of smoke wafted across downtown Sebring, as firefighters answered calls for two reported house fires within a few minutes of each other, as Fay unleashed some of its strongest winds.

The first call came in at 3:23 p.m.
Firefighters with Sebring Fire Rescue responded to 1108 Nan-Ces-O-Wee Ave. It turned out there was a shorted-out wire that caused smoke.

The homeowner said she was getting shocks, according to officials. Progress Energy turned off power to the home and an electrician was to be called.

As fire crews wrapped up their hoses and prepared to clear the scene, they were dispatched to 265 Pomegranate Ave., in Sebring, where a two-story home built in 1917 was fully involved.

The Warren House, as it is known, is not on the National Register of Historic Places. It is notable mainly by its age.

A photo and brief history of the Warren House can be found on Page 51 in the Southern Heritage Press book, "Sebring -City on the Circle," by Stephen Olausen.

"The Warren House is one of the most intact examples of an early frame Vernacular residence in Sebring," the author states. "It was constructed in 1917 after D.E. Warren purchased the lot from the Sebring Real Estate Company."

Warren was a carpenter who came to the city in 1911 with his brother and helped build a number of the city's first buildings, including the Buckeye Club and Sebring Real Estate Company building on the Circle.

Fay's winds gave firefighters some problems Tuesday. The house was not occupied. No one was living there and there was no power hooked up to the home.

These circumstances set into motion a call to the state Fire Marshal's Office to investigate, said Fire Chief Brad Batz.

Batz said the fire damaged about 75 to 80 percent of the home, and he would leave it to the city building official to determine if it could be salvaged or would need to be demolished.

A neighboring home 10 to 15 feet away was endangered, and received some soot staining, but the fire was contained.

No firefighters or civilians were injured in either incident.

The fire remained under investigation Wednesday, according to Sam Venzeio, public information officer with the state Fire Marshal's Office.

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