Fire destroys Brooksville mobile home

The fire started in the front of the mobile home but the cause is unknown. [Ron Thompson | Times]

BROOKSVILLE — Fire officials are investigating the cause of an afternoon blaze that destroyed a mobile home in the Brookridge community and sent an elderly resident to the hospital.

The fire started in the front of the mobile home but the cause is unknown. All three residents managed to escape, though 79-year-old Cora Marbrey was taken to the hospital because she depends on oxygen and insulin.

Some oxygen tanks were in the home at the time of the fire, creating dangerous conditions for the more than dozen fire fighters who battled the hot blaze on Diablo Street in the heat of the afternoon.

District Chief Jack Sanfilippo with Hernando Fire Rescue said four firefighters were spraying water on the home when they heard four or five large pops that produced bursts of flames. When it blows, it’s a big fireball, he said, sending shrapnel into the air. No firefighters were injured.

-- John Frank, Times staff writer

Photo: A Hernando County firefighter hoses down the interior of a double wide mobile home on Diablo Drive in Brookridge Golf and Country Club Wednesday afternoon. Click to enlarge. [Ron Thompson | Times]