‘I heard a loud kaboom’: Neighbors in Atlantic Beach band together after overnight fire rips through

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — Neighbors are coming together in Atlantic Beach, after a fire tore through multiple apartments and a home.

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A JFRD spokesperson says crews responded around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday to 10th Street and Beach Avenue.

Four apartments were impacted by fire, a total loss. All six units were impacted because of electric issues.

A single home, that backs the ocean, suffered from the flames and smoke with severe damage.

JFRD says no injuries were reported, and no one had to be pulled out by crews.

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Greg Franek has lived in Atlantic Beach for 22 years. He lost nearly everything overnight on Tuesday.

“For some reason, I woke up at 1:30 and I couldn’t swallow,” Franek said. “I said maybe I have a dry throat. I woke up and my room seemed a little smoky and the living room. I went into the kitchen and I saw smoke coming up from the floor.”

Franek said he ran downstairs to wake up his neighbors and then called 911.

“The whole place went up like a Christmas tree,” Franek said.

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Other neighbors described what they saw and heard.

“We had people pounding on our door telling us to get out,” Scott Cairns said. “We came out into the street and saw that all our neighbors were out there as well. We saw that everyone was safe.

He said crews responded in just a couple of minutes.

“At first the fire didn’t seem that large, but it got larger and larger and larger,” Cairns said. “It jumped from one house to another. Before we knew it, they were gone.”

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Terrie Bradshaw’s home nearby was also damaged and left with shattered windows and melting pieces hanging off the side of her patio.

“I heard a loud kaboom. I turned and looked out my sliding glass door, and I saw sparks: blue, green, red,” Bradshaw said.

Neighbors say they’re grateful to be alive, especially Franek who could not believe what was happening.

“Right here where those two burned out windows are, that’s where my couch would have been,” Franek said. “You wouldn’t be talking to me right now. I hate to say.”

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Franek said the support from his Atlantic Beach community has been overwhelming.

“I have a place to stay,” Franek said. “I got people bringing me clothes, so I think once I sit down I think it’s gonna really hit me right now. These flip-flops aren’t even mine. Somebody gave me them because I was in a hurry.”

The State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.

“I could care less about material things,” Franek said. “I was worried about getting my neighbors out.”

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