
A family of six, including four children, lost their home to a middle-of-the-night fire on Longfellow Drive in Palm Coast early this morning, and a 21-year-old woman was taken to Halifax hospital with serious injuries.
The 21 year old had gone back into the house in an attempt to rescue pets but was able to rescue only one dog. Other pets were lost, according to Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill. A sheriff’s report referred to the presence of “a couple of pets” in the house.
“At this time it is unknown how the fire started,” a Flagler County Sheriff’s report states. “The suspicion is that the electric skimmers for the pool caught on fire and it quickly spread through the home.” The state fire marshal was called in, as was the Red Cross to coordinate care for the family.
Firefighters were called to 28 Longfellow Drive at 1 a.m. Brian and Lisa Bohan, 47 and 48, had bought the 3,100-foot, five bedroom house in 2018 for $315,000. The house was built in 2013. It was largely engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. All occupants had left the house. Aside from the parents, the occupants included the 21-year-old woman, two boys, 17 and 15, and a 6-year-old girl.
“Upon arrival, we found heavy, heavy volume of fire coming out of the rear of the residence and through the roof,” Berryhill said, estimating that 75 percent of the house was involved in fire at that point. He described the situation as “untenable” for firefighters to make entry into the house. He said the 21 year old was in stable condition today.
“Our goal is to keep fires to the room of origin and protect life, but then some other incident priorities for us is to stabilize the situation and to protect all the property that we can,” the fire chief said. “In this situation, our best ability to do that was protect the other structures, and so that’s what our firefighters did.” The house is on a 10,000 square-foot lot, with houses on either side.
The emergency drew on significant responder resources, including the Sheriff’s Office, Flagler County Fire Rescues 24 and 22 and Battalion 40 from the county, with the Palm Coast Fire Department’s Battalion 24, Engine 23, Engine 21, Engine 22 and Tower 24.


