UPPER CAPTIVA, Fla. — It took a community jumping into action to rescue two people trapped inside a home on North Captiva when it caught fire Wednesday afternoon.
Fire Commissioner Duncan Rosen said a preliminary investigation points to a lead-acid golf cart battery igniting underneath the elevated home.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on the heroic community effort to save people from a house fire:
"The front was fully engulfed prior to anyone arriving,” Rosen told Fox 4. “So, it made for a very challenging situation.”
Within minutes, flames tore through the home with three people inside, one with limited mobility and a caretaker staying with them.
Two construction workers, Bill Kolakowski and Mikey Park, were working across the street when a coworker shouted “fire.”
“It was just really hot and a lot of smoke,” Kolakowski told Fox 4.
“I would have done it for anybody,” Park said.
Kolakowski said they ran to the back of the house, went inside and brought the person with limited mobility outside and the caretaker outside. They rolled him toward the pool, where he went in to escape the heat.
Their boss, Phil Heebner of Creedance Contracting, gave them Thursday off work and said their actions likely saved lives.
“They risked their own lives to save other human lives, I couldn’t be more proud,” said Heebner.
They weren’t the only ones helping, Allen Briand who was also working nearby said he and dozens of others rushed in. He said he was grabbing buckets of water and a garden hose in an attempt to keep the fire back, and to save the family’s dogs.
“Keeping the water on the fence, and the guy had the water hose on the fence, squirting the fence, keeping it cool,” Briand said. “Then we heard some dogs barking. I tried, I couldn’t jump over the fence. It was way too hot. I watched the dogs perish there.”
Rosen confirmed that the two dogs did not survive.
With no fire hydrants on the island, crews drafted water from a nearby canal. Several nearby fire departments also responded.
Both people rescued from the home were airlifted to burn units, their current conditions have not been released.
Rosen said the outcome could have been far worse without the help of residents, workers, and visitors who stepped in.
“I just can’t thank the community enough for everyone chipping in,” Rosen said.
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