Saturday, December 6, 2008

No one was injured early Friday when a large fire destroyed two rental town houses in the tony Hawks Cay resort on Duck Key, drawing multiple fire crews in the Upper Keys.

Monroe County firefighters from the Conch Key station first responded to the 7200 block of Sinram Lane around 12:30 a.m. to find two units engulfed in flames, said Interim Fire Chief Jim Callahan. The two homes at 7208 and 7210 Sinram Lane were on fire and the flames were threatening other units, the chief said.

"It was a miracle the fire didn't burn other homes down," Callahan said.

The fire appeared to start in the back portion of the unit at 7208 Sinram Lane, officials said.

No one was living in either unit, said Steve Bello, Hawks Cay managing director. Monroe County property records show one was owned by John Allison of Miami and the other by Gene and Barbara Allison of Davie, Fla.

Both residences were appraised at about $750,000, records show.

Witnesses told fire crews that they smelled smoke around 5 p.m. Thursday, but figured it was a barbecue, Callahan said. Whether or not that information is pertinent to the incident as well as what started the fire is under investigation by the Monroe County Fire Marshal's Office.

Firefighters were called back to the scene around 7 a.m. Friday after a brief flare-up, Bello said.

Construction crews demolished both homes Friday morning under orders from Assistant Fire Marshal Wally Romero, Bello said. Romero did not return phone messages The Citizen left at his office.

"The fire marshal told us it was not safe to enter the buildings and they needed to come down," Bello said.

How the demolition will affect the investigation was not clear Friday, but Bello said it didn't appear to be arson. Callahan said the fire didn't look suspicious, but added that the cause remains under investigation.

There was a report of a man working on the units Thursday, but it wasn't clear whether he was doing electrical work or other repairs that could cause a fire, Callahan said.

Both units were equipped with electric stoves, so there was no gas involved, Bello said. Both units had working smoke detectors, he added.

"I think that the metal units on the roof made it challenging to put out," Bello said. "The heat couldn't escape and they had to go through windows."

Firefighters came from all over Monroe County: Layton, Marathon, Islamorada, Key Largo and Big Pine Key.

"This was almost a countywide event," Callahan said.

alinhardt@keysnews.com