Port Richey, Fla. (970 WFLA) - Lightning sparked a fire that destroyed a well-known home in the Gulf of Mexico Saturday night, Pasco County Fire Rescue said.
The "American Flag Stilt House," as many people knew it, sat on open Gulf water at the mouth of the Cotee River. Its remoteness hampered efforts when firefighters arrived at about 7:50 p.m. to the house fully engulfed.They tried to knock down the flames with help from Pasco County Sheriff's Office marine units, a portable fire pump from Port Richey Fire Rescue, and the Palm Harbor Fire Department's fireboat.
But firefighters still call the home "a total loss." No one was inside at the time. They warn boaters in the area that debris might still float in the water.
Photo from Pasco Co. Fire Rescue.