PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – A massive fire that destroyed 20 condos in Ponte Vedra Beach last month caused roughly $2.5 million in damage, according to estimates from a St. Johns County Fire Rescue investigation.
The investigation still hasn't determined a cause of the fire at the Belleza Condominiums. No one was seriously hurt, but 30 residents were displaced.
A separate internal investigation into the initial response to the fire ended with two fire rescue employees losing their jobs.
The internal report found that a woman first called 911 at 4:05 a.m. July 13 to report that she smelled smoke.
The report showed that Engine 10 responded to her first call, but instead of driving through the complex, drove past it for 26 seconds with its windows down.
The woman called back at 4:22 a.m., but the dispatcher didn't send the engine back.
UNCUT AUDIO: Woman's first calls 911 | More callers report fire
After the investigation, the engineer, Alton Robey, resigned and the dispatcher, Lona Williams, was fired.
News4Jax asked a local real estate attorney if the fire department could be held liable for damages because of the mistakes uncovered by the report.
Obi Umunna said it's possible, but difficult, to sue government entities.
"You really have to show that the fire department did something completely abnormal than what they normally did and that it was actually an intentional form of negligence," Umunna said.
DOCUMENT: St. Johns County Fire Rescue investigation report
But for many who lost everything in the fire, the loss was more than financial.
Kristen Schleiter said she still vividly remembers the morning of July 13, when fire destroyed her condo and 19 others.
"I got really emotional, listening to the news and reading over the report," Schleiter said. "I wanted to believe that everyone did what they were supposed to."
She said it was disappointing to learn that the firefighters simply drove past the complex for 26 seconds instead of coming inside.
"It's just really disheartening," Schleiter said. "I see that people made mistakes and that this could have been prevented."
Schleiter and her roommate were back at the condos Friday with SJCFR personnel, who led residents to their units to see if they could salvage any belongings.
Schleiter and her roommate found their grandmothers' jewelry.
"That was huge for us," Schleiter said. "We knew it was a total loss all of our other belongings, but being able to find those other things meant a lot to us."
Schleiter said she is focused now on starting the next chapter of her life at Belleza.
"I'm looking forward to moving back there right now," she said. "It's just kind of getting the pieces together, and hopefully we can start over fresh."
When firefighters arrived just after 4:30 a.m., flames were already through the roof of the three-story building.