Fire burns 3 homes on Eastside

JFRD: No one injured

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A fire burned three homes early Friday morning in east Jacksonville.

The homes are located on Odessa and Palmetto streets, which is north of the Mathews Expressway and west of the Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway.

A neighbor woke up about 5 a.m. to the brightness of the flames and called 911.

"I just got home from work. I was laying in bed and rolled over and I could see a super bright reddish light; knew it wasn't daylight yet, came outside and the houses were on fire next to me," said Charlotte. "Very scary not knowing if anyone was inside or not."

IMAGES: Firefighters battle 3 homes on fire

Two of the homes were abandoned, according to Jacksonville Fire Rescue. Two people did live at the third home but were not there when the fire broke out.

One man who lived in the house returned home Thursday morning and seemed devastated as he saw the damage for the first time.

No one was injured in the fire. The cause of the fire was not immediately released. The State Fire Marshal was investigating.

People who live in the area could not believe how large the flames they saw were.

"We went outside and saw it, and my kitty started literally coughing. That's how much smoke was out here," neighbor Shantrice Woodard said.

Two neighbors said there are several abandoned homes in the area, and fires happen at them often.

"I actually stayed around the corner not too long ago and the same things happened, basically, with abandoned houses," Woodard said.

"It is a call of action to get something done about these vacant houses," neighbor Ariane Randolph said.

In just about two blocks, there are several abandoned homes. Some think neighbors should get together and do something about the problem. Some say people break into the homes to sleep and do drugs.

"That house close to mine, I be scared all the time," neighbor Harold Moore said. "That's why I cut my limbs down so I can see from here to there to see who be coming in these houses."