Bonita Springs house catches on fire 3 times in less than 24 hours

A house in Bonita Springs caught on fire three times in less than 24 hours.

Thursday evening, crews were at the scene at the home on Imperial Harbor Boulevard in Bonita Springs, which is a 55-and-up community.

However, the fire reignited overnight, and it wasn’t just some hot spots. The back of the home was fully engulfed once again.

Then, early Friday morning, the house reignited again while WINK News was live at the scene.

By the second time around, however, the house was left a shell of its former self after the flames engulfed it by around 11:30 p.m.

Bonita Springs Fire and Rescue fought the fire with Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Lee County EMS on the scene.

The battalion chief for Bonita Springs Fire and Rescue said the cause of the initial fire was electrical, coming from the front porch. He said he believes it came from an outlet.

The other fires were re-sparks from pieces and damage left in the initial fire.

He said this third fire might have been from a dresser in the bedroom at the back of the home. Some things inside might have been prone to a spark, but he is surprised because everything inside was still wet. The floors were just pooling with water.

It was a shocking sight to see for neighbors, something they didn’t expect after watching the first fire get put out Thursday afternoon.

“We were getting ready to watch it on the 11 o’clock WINK News, and we’d missed it. We were rewinding, and my wife said, ‘Oh, my God, it’s on fire again,’ so we ran over or walked over to see what was going on, and sure enough, it’s the same house with as much flame coming out the second time as there was the first time we saw it,” said Matt Strickling, a neighbor.

After the first time this home caught fire, no one was home at the time, and no one was hurt.

The American Red Cross came to the scene to help the family who lived in the home.