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Hernando Today

Decades-Old Home Ruined By Fire

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: September 19, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Neva Jefferys heard the sound of utter devastation Wednesday night.

It was the piercing scream she gave when she first saw the wall of flames wrapped around the porch of her home at 12456 Montour Street.

Her cry was loud enough to travel across Jefferys' two-acre property and bring her neighbor running. Together they carried her pets away from the house as her husband and 20-year-old son tried to battle the blaze with garden hoses.

The heat melted the plastic pots hanging from a tree at their backs.

Hernando County fire engines rumbled down the soft sand driveway. Firefighters smothered the fire with foam at the front of the house and made a second attack through the rear of the house. In the space of an hour, the setting for more than 20 years of memories went up in smoke.

"My kids don't know anything else," Jefferys said Thursday morning from her shady front yard.

Still, Jefferys has hope.

The brunt of the damage is in the front of the original mobile home, which was reduced to charred timbers by the fire. Among the casualties are the antique radio cabinets that belonged to her father and a beloved horse-hair sofa.

But over the years, the Jefferys have built five extra rooms onto the house. When the fire broke out, Jefferys and her husband, Daniel, were staining a door in the garage. It was supposed to the final touch on their renovations.
Fire investigators were to determine the source of the fire Thursday, but it was not considered suspicious.

As Jefferys circled the house with a reporter, she pointed out all that survived the fire. It wasn't until after the firefighters left that she noticed they had taken care to keep her antique lamps safe from damage, among other things. They had also removed a window instead of breaking it.

They have her deepest gratitude.

"Half of my stuff is saved," she said.

Last night was tough for two of Jefferys' grandkids, ages 5 and 11, who live with their parents near the Glen Lakes subdivision on U.S. 19. The neighbor who came over to rescue the pets called Jefferys' son.

"It was the worst phone call you can imagine," said Jefferys' daughter-in-law, Elsie.

The family rushed over to console the Jefferyses and lend whatever help they needed. Without immediately seeing their grandparents, the children feared the worst when they first saw the fire.
Jefferys said their distress gave her a reason to be calm and draw on her inner strength to console them as a grandmother.

On Thursday morning, Elsie had to laugh after discovering that, out of all the destruction, her son's math books had survived.

"He's so upset," she said smiling.

During the process of extinguishing the blaze Wednesday night, a sharp piece of metal sliced through a Hernando County firefighter's glove and cut his hand, according to union President Jason Brazinski.

Firefighter Brad Kufner, who works out of Station No. 11 on Barclay Avenue, needed four to five stitches to his hand and will miss a few shifts, but is recovering well, Brazinski said.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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