St. Pete Fire Rescue has not yet confirmed what caused the fire, but firefighters were seen hosing down a charred e-scooter in the home’s front lawn.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A St. Pete woman is figuring out where she and her grandchildren are going to sleep tonight after she said an e-scooter sparked a fire at their home.
St. Pete Fire Rescue crews responded early Thursday morning to a single-story home located on 16th Avenue South, where they found heavy smoke coming from the roof.
Firefighters were able to get the fire under control after using hose lines. No one was hurt.
10 Tampa Bay News spoke with the homeowner, Monica Snead, who believes the fire was started by the e-scooter. St. Pete Fire Rescue has not yet confirmed what caused the fire, but firefighters were seen hosing down a charred e-scooter in the home’s front lawn.
Snead said she heard a pop sound from a room in the back of the house where the e-scooter was and saw smoke once she approached the area.
After calling a friend to come over for help, Snead heard another pop noise that sounded like an explosion, which is when she started seeing flames.
“By the time 911 got here, it was really bad,” she said. “As bad as it is, I’m grateful to God.”
Snead explained that her grandchildren were home with her, but were not in the room at the time. She recalled an incident during a previous hurricane where the roof fell on top of one of her grandsons’ rooms, but he was thankfully sleeping on a sofa in a different room at the time.
“That roof would’ve ended up falling in and it would have fell on him,” Snead said.
Snead says she now doesn’t know where she and her grandchildren are staying Thursday evening, as fire officials continue investigating.
“I’m just going to stand firm and face this giant that I have here,” she said.
