MAITLAND, Fla. — A local couple is now looking for a new place to stay after a fire badly damaged their longtime home Sunday afternoon near Maitland, leaving behind decades of memories.
Orange County Fire Rescue said crews were dispatched just after 4:30 p.m. to a house fire on Avonwood Court. When firefighters arrived, they found the home engulfed in heavy flames.
“This house has heavy fire damage. The residents will be displaced for some time,” Orange County Fire Rescue spokesperson Thomas Rock said.
Mary Godfry said she first noticed thick black smoke and flames towering over the neighborhood, only to discover the fire was at her own home. “I’ve been in that house for 25 years. I see all these homeless people around, and I don’t want to be like them,” Godfry said.
The property may be familiar to some News 6 viewers. The station previously reported on the home in 2016 after it racked up more than $2.5 million in code enforcement fines and liens.
Homeowner Bill Zorn said he inherited the house about 25 years ago and has had a difficult time keeping up with expensive repairs. “When they put a lien on the house, there was no way of getting a roof on the house and no way of getting air conditioning in the house,” Zorn said.
While investigators are still working to determine what sparked the fire, firefighters said the poor condition of the home created major challenges for crews as they worked to put out the flames. “There was a heavy fuel load — a lot of stuff inside the home when crews arrived — and it made it difficult for them to get inside and conduct an interior attack,” Rock said.
The **American Red Cross** is helping the couple with housing, food, clothing and other resources. Investigators are still working to determine what caused the fire.
