Archive for the ‘Fire’ tag
Bettes Estate RIP 19 comments
I meant to post about this at the time, but I was busy. I ran past the Bettes Estate this weekend (as I do nearly everyday) and it reminded me. It’s a sorry picture. The house was recently consumed by fire after a careless worker involved in its restoration set it alight with a blow torch. Seriously. How mad would that make you, if that was your home? It is a total loss, apparently.
Anyway, the house was built in 1912, not necessarily old for 32210 (parts of Bones HQ date from 1904, but I added the hollowed-out volcano in the ’90s). Also, it is not on the river – but I am told it once was – it has just had houses built between it and the river since.
Irritated homeowner
First Coast News reported:
…the historic structure was destroyed. However, the owners tried to salvage what they could, and plucked dripping wet portraits from the first floor of the house.
“From the very onset, firefighters never really had a fighting chance,” said JFRD Spokesperson Tom Francis.
Francis said the fire spread quickly and took more than 60 firefighters to control it. “It’s heart breaking,” said Sawyer, who watched with dozens of neighbors from the blocked off street.
Sawyer showed First Coast News pictures she took inside the home in the 1970s. She said the more than 5,000 square foot estate had beautiful staircases and polished, wooden floors.
So that’s that, then. Shame. Terrible shame.