St. Petersburg firefighters responded to a one-alarm house fire in the 2500 block of 14th Avenue North in St. Petersburg early Wednesday morning.
When firefighters arrive, the exterior of a single-family home was on fire, authorities said. Crews were able to knock down the fire before flames ate their way to the interior.
According to a St. Petersburg Fire Rescue official, a man, who was home alone, discovered the fence adjacent to the house on fire early Wednesday morning. He put it out with a water hose and went back inside the house.
About 1 a.m. Wednesday, he discovered the fire had reignited and flames had reached the exterior of his house. This time he reported the fire to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, who was about to extinguish the fire quickly. The homeowner was able to return to his home.
A fire investigator was called to the scene to determine the cause and check out the suspicious nature of how the fire started, the official said.
