Electrical problems cited in both cases
A little more than a year after a fire destroyed a condominium in the Sandy Cove community on north Siesta Key, another incident — reported on Aug. 10 — has resulted in about $170,000 in damages to two other condominiums in a neighboring structure.
The pre-incident value of the affected unit this time — No. 38 — was $725,000, the formal Sarasota County Fire Department report said. Overall damage to the condo itself was put at $150,000, while the contents, valued at $20,000, were a total loss, the report added.
Part of the roof of the single-story unit collapsed, the Fire Department pointed out. No resident was injured, the reports added, as the unit was unoccupied and all of the fire crews were in a safe location at that time. However, two firefighters did end up suffering injuries at the scene, with one having to be transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital. The Fire Department provided no details about those injuries.
The investigation indicated that the fire began at an electrical outlet, the reports said, noting th origin was “Electrical arcing.” The arcing ignited insulation within the wall, the report added.
The Fire Department classified the incident as “Unintentional.”
The Fire Department alarm was issued at 3:19 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, with the first crew arriving on the scene at 15:26 p.m., the Fire Department reports noted.
A Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputy reached the property ahead of the firefighters, that agency has reported.
The deputy wrote in the narrative of his report that he saw “significant smoke coming from 36 Sandy Cove [Road]” after he responded to the advisory about a fire in that community. He was able to enter the building, to determine whether anyone was inside, he wrote. After learning that the affected unit was empty, he continued, he “proceeded to evacuate the units that were attached to 36 Sandy Cove Rd to a safe location” and awaited Fire Department personnel.
The Fire Department report said that firefighters entered three different units in the one-story condominium complex before determining that the fire had originated in Unit 38.
Personnel found a “V” pattern on one interior wall “directly above an exterior outlet next to the rear door,” the report continued.
The form that Fire Department personnel use in writing their reports noted that the outlet was in a den or family room. Under the heading, “Factors Contributing to Ignition,” the report cited an electrical failure or malfunction.
The report said that as firefighters trained water on the blaze, they observed “a good initial knockdown” of the flames. However, immediately afterward, the reports indicated, the partial collapse of the roof occurred, “directly above the fire.”
A “second alarm was called early for tactical reserve, complex layout of buildings and high heat index,” the report explained.
The living area of the Unit 38 condo comprises 1,471 square feet, the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office notes in its records. Firefighters did check Unit 36 to make certain that the fire had not spread there, the report said. Firefighters with Engine 11 — which is based at the station in the Gulf Gate Mall area, 2200 Stickney Point Road — “breached some of the drywall [in Unit 36],” the report also noted.
Further, “used an attic ladder to check the attic space and found no fire extension,” through operation of a thermal imager, the report continued.
Additionally, the crews set up ventilation equipment in that Unit 36, as well as the one where the fire started, the report pointed out.
No smoke detectors or automatic fire extinguishing equipment had been installed in Unit 38, the report pointed out.
Personnel assigned to Fire Station 13 on Siesta Key were first on the scene following the deputy, the Fire Department report indicated. That crew “was met with moderate smoke conditions but little to no heat inside [Unit 36],” the report said.
However, the report continued, “After exiting through a sliding glass door,” firefighters/paramedics with Rescue Unit 13 “located the fire in the rear of the structure.” Then the Engine 13 crew was advised that Unit 38, next to Unit 36, was the primary location of the fire, the report added.
The fire was under control by 3:45 p.m., the report noted, but the last unit did not clear the scene until 7:02 p.m.
Altogether, 18 types of Fire Department apparatus were used at the scene, the report said, with eight of them identified as suppression equipment. The total personnel count was 36.
In the Sheriff’s Office report on the incident, the responding deputy wrote that he was able to contact the owner of 36 Sandy Cove Road — David Brinton — and he provided that name to the Fire Department personnel.
The unit at 38 Sandy Cove Road recently had been sold, the deputy learned, he also noted in the report. While he was able to get the owner’s name, he added, he was not able to obtain a phone number or other contact means. The homeowners association at Sandy Cove was attempting to get those details, to pass them along to the Sheriff’s Office and the Fire Department, the deputy wrote.
The Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office records say that Joel Gokool of Ozone Park, N.Y., bought Unit 38 for $800,000 on Jan. 31, 2023. The condominium was built in 1968, the record adds.
The Property Appraiser’s Office records for the Unit 36 condo show that Meadowbrook Realty Co. in Kansas City, Mo., has owned it since March 1983.
The 2023 incident
On July 23, 2023, a fire broke out in Unit No. 3-C in the two-story building standing at 39 Sandy Cove Road, the Fire Department reported at that time. That condo was a total loss, the Fire Department noted in its form about the incident. The damage total was put at $261,548.04.
As in this latest incident, the cause was determined to be an electrical problem. Initially, Fire Department personnel had suspected arson, that report said.
The owners were out of the country at the time, the department pointed out. Adjoining units were evacuated that time, as well. No one was injured.