Fire investigation in St. James City after home burns down

Crews are investigating a massive fire that destroyed a home in St. James City on Thursday morning.

The Pine Island Fire Department was called out to the house on Courtney Road at around 4:45 a.m. and found the home completely engulfed in flames. The closest fire hydrant was around half a mile away, making it necessary for a fire tender to shuttle 2,500 gallons of water from the hydrant back to the burning house, as each engine carries only 1,000 gallons.

The state fire marshal says the woman who own the house was not present for the fire and no one was injured. The fire is mostly out, but firefighters are attending to small flare-ups in the wreckage of the home.

One neighbor says the remains of the home—which was old, wooden and on stilts—are now unrecognizable.

This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.