ORLANDO, Fla. — An investigation is underway after a home exploded in Orlando early Monday evening that left one man in critical condition.
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Neighbors are speculating that a candle may have started the fire, and a gas can helped to shoot flames through the roof. However, firefighters can’t explain why the fire grew as quickly as it did.
The fire reached up to 30 feet in the air and burned the man inside.
Neighbor Happy Gafford said it was “almost like an explosion.”
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She said she helped the victim with first aid until emergency crews arrived.
She and other neighbors said the man was the only person home at the time, and that a candle started the fire, which was then exacerbated by a gas can on the front porch.
Orlando Fire District Chief Harvey Jones said his crews ran extra lines to keep a large propane tank from exploding and a neighboring house from being damaged.
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Investigators said they would try to figure out why the fire grew as quickly as it did.
“The fire moved pretty fast,” Jones said. “Under normal circumstances normally wouldn’t have gone up -- and it was through the roof by the time we got here.”
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Firefighters reduced the flames to smoke in about 20 minutes.
The family’s dog made it out of the fire and was being cared for by a neighbor.
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