To place fire hydrants or not is bound to be a topic on the minds of residents along Scott Lane in south Fort Myers in the wake of a second major house fire within a year.
It was a home at 6285 Scott Lane — valued at $709,810 on the Lee County Property Appraiser's website and the most expensive on the street — that burned Monday afternoon. The fire has been ruled accidental.
A spokeswoman for the South Trail Fire Department said the electrical-sourced fire started in the area of a circuit breaker panel in the garage.
"The fire quickly moved to the attic and spread throughout the attic space," South Trail's Amy Bollen said, "which caused significant roof collapse."
Bollen said the home sustained significant smoke, fire and water damage.
There are no hydrants along Scott and the nearest is 1,558 feet away just off Plantation Road, the distance of five football fields, including two 90-degree curves.
Some on Scott Lane have made attempts to have a water line placed and hydrants installed.
Karen Ann Miracola made an effort 10 years ago to set up a taxing authority along Scott, the first step in getting waterlines added.
"We couldn't get the 51 percent required," she said. "But people have moved and we have new residents. Some are interested. Still, it would be six to eight years out."
The collection of homes on the dead-end street, called Villas South, was developed in the 1970s.
Fire departments are given some input on fire hydrants, Bollen said.
"When a new subdivision/development is being built, the fire department will review the development order and stipulate whether or not the hydrant spacing proposed is adequate," she said. "If changes need to be made, the fire department will advise where hydrants must be placed to meet code requirements."
However, she said, the fire department has no jurisdiction in regards to hydrant spacing and location for existing single-family homes.
A Lee County spokesman said fire hydrant spacing is a requirement of the Land Development Code in conjunction with National Fire Protection Association requirements and applies only to properties platted after 1983.
"Properties platted prior to 1983, which may be served by private wells and septic tanks, are not under the provisions of this code," said Tim Engstrom, a Lee County public information specialist.
Because of that, all the homes on Scott are served by septic systems and most are on well water. Some homes were able to get an easement and have water lines extended from Plantation Road.
Miracola wasn't worried about her home: "My home is close to the fire hydrant. I'm fine."
Still, she said, it would behoove residents to get water lines and fire hydrants.
"It's kinda been a little hidden treasure back here," she said.
Fires have hit the lane in prior years. In July 2017, a fire at 6232 Scott Lane destroyed the home and caused the death of a woman who lived there.
That home, a $128,000 frame home, was one of the first homes built on Scott, around 1973. The 19 remaining homes on Scott were built starting in 1976 and ranging throughout the '80s and '90s. The last home to be built, a $602,000 dwelling, was constructed in 2000.
The home that burned Monday was a replacement home, Miracola and another neighbor said.
"The previous home burned to the ground," she said, sometime in the early 1990s. The home that burned Monday was first on the tax rolls in 1993, usually the year after its construction is completed.
"When that house burned the first time, there was ammunition in the garage," said Andy Olechowsky, who lives across the street. "It kept going off and we had to duck down."
Despite the fires, including one he said started in a shed in his own backyard, fire hydrants are not high on his list of needs.
"I don't think it would have helped," Olechowsky said. "I don't want to pay for hydrants. We want the city to stay out."
Another neighbor across the street from the burned home, Candis Daugherly, said having a hydrant on the street would not have made the fire any easier to fight.
"They were pretty fast getting here and getting water," she said. "I don't feel a hydrant being closer would have made a difference."
That's not the assessment of the South Trail Fire Department.
Bollen said a closer hydrant would have helped crews fight the fire.
Miracola said she was going to renew her effort to get a water line and hydrants along Scott.
She said South Trail Assistant fire Chief Gene Rogers told her a dry hydrant, which could help relay water from an active hydrant, might be one possibility for the neighborhood. She said he suggested a possible neighborhood meeting to discuss options.
The response to Monday's fire, Miracola said, multiple trucks and what looked like miles of fire hose spaghettied from the burning house and then down the street and around corners to the hydrant, isn't a good solution.