ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Firefighters rescued a mother and her teenage daughter after a St. Petersburg home went up in flames early Wednesday morning.
St. Petersburg Fire Rescue said crews responded to the two-story home on Bayside Drive South around 12:30 a.m. When they arrived, they found flames engulfing the entire structure and spreading rapidly, threatening homes nearby.
Officials said the mother and daughter were trapped in the backyard of a bungalow behind the main house, unable to escape due to the size of the fire and a locked gate. Firefighters found the two and safely evacuated them.
Firefighters faced intense heat and stopped the fire from spreading to other homes, which were already exposed to the flames. They were able to bring it under control and contain it to the original structure.
There are no reported injuries. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
