Bill Harr thought his neighbor was joking when he told him his house was on fire.
He was working at the U.S. Postal Service when his neighbor called Friday afternoon to alert him.
“I said ‘Yeah, right,’ ” Harr said.
But he realized it was no laughing matter when he drove up to his home on Melwood Avenue. Half his roof was destroyed, and firefighters were just dousing the last flames.
His next-door neighbor’s roof was almost entirely gone.
The fire started at one house and — aided by the strong winds — blew to the next house. Both were destroyed.
“There’s a brand-new, $50,000 truck in there,” Harr said, pointing to his garage. “It’s a complete loss. I can’t think straight right now.”
No one was hurt in the fire. Firefighters rescued several pets.
Orange County Fire Rescue said the fire started at Harr’s neighbor’s house, but some neighbors first on scene said they saw Harr’s air conditioning unit on fire.
The blaze remains under investigation, and the State Fire Marshall will determine the cause.
The neighborhood is off Econlockhatchee Trail near Lake Underhill Road.
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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Two homes caught fire Friday afternoon, Orange County Fire Rescue said.
Firefighters said they were called at about 3 p.m. to Mellowood Avenue near Lake Underhill Road and South Econlockhatchee Trail.
One home was fully engulfed in flames, and half of the other home was on fire, officials said.
"When we arrived on scene, there was a ball of fire in between two homes, so we can't determine which one it was," Orange County Battalion Chief Carollee Burrell said.
Resident Bill Haar, 70, was at work when his neighbor called him to tell him that his home of 20 years was on fire.
"'Bill: Both of our houses are on fire,' and I just really broke down," he said. "It took me about a half hour to get here."
Neighbor Lynne Bahre said she and her husband Gary Gionne had left their home 10 minutes before the flames sparked.
"When we crossed (East) Colonial (Drive), we saw smoke and said 'that can't be our house,'" she said. "It went all through the roof and everything."
"There's not much left of anything," Gionne said.
Firefighters said they rescued a dog from one of the burning homes.
No one was inured.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.