One person was killed and another one critically injured as flames swept through a mobile home in an Ocala retirement community on Thursday afternoon.
Multiple Ocala Fire Rescue units responded to the blaze at The Arbors, located in the 2200 block of NE 19th Avenue. They were dispatched at 3:04 p.m. and Engine 5 arrived on scene three minutes later to find a working structure fire and a burn victim outside the home. That patient advised firefighters that a second person was trapped inside the residence, a report says.
Firefighters aboard Engine 1, Engine 3, Engine 4 and Tower 1 also responded to the blaze, along with a battalion chief and a safety officer. Medics from Rescue 1 worked alongside their counterparts from Marion County Fire Rescue to prepare the burn victim for transport to UF Health Shands Hospital while firefighters tackled the blaze and searched for the other victim, who was found dead inside the residence.
The fire was under called control in 12 minutes. The cause of the blaze still hasn’t been determined and the State Fire Marshal’s office will lead the investigation. Officers from the Ocala Police Department also responded to the blaze.
