2 homes catch fire on same road

JFRD: No word if both fires were connected; homes were abandoned

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department extinguished two house fires on the same road on the Northside.

According to JFRD, firefighters were extinguishing a fire to an abandoned home on 114 Bernard Road at about 11 p.m. Monday, when crew members spotted smoke and flames at another abandoned home down the street.

Bernard Road is located near Main Street and Pecan Park Road.

Fire crews diverted their efforts to 200 Bernard Road just before 3 a.m. Tuesday morning where another abandoned home was up in flames.

No one was in either homes at the time of the fire, according to JFRD.

The Fire Marshal is investigating both incidents, but do not yet know if the fires were connected.

Loyd Locklear, who owns a property across the street from one of the houses that caught fire, said that a few weeks ago someone tried to burn down his home. And he's got the charred porch to prove it.

"Thank God for my neighbors," Locklear said.

He praises them and firefighters for keeping the blaze from spreading to the rest of his home, which he's renovating right now.

"Yeah, a lot of concerns about it. I've got all my money tightly invested in this," Locklear said.

According to police records, there have been three other unsolved arsons on the Northside in the last year, but this latest clump on one little street is concerning for lots of people who live nearby.

"The neighbors ought to keep an eye out, too," resident Marty Hatfield said. "Obviously there is somebody catching them on fire. They haven't caught on fire by themselves."