Ortega History Destroyed by Fire Today

[stjr]

Another Jacksonville history loss.  Why would someone use a blow torch on an old house to remove paint?  There must be a better way.

Fire destroys historic Ortega home
By Dana Treen - Florida Times Union - Story updated at 6:52 PM on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009

A plume of smoke that could be seen from downtown Jacksonville marked the destruction of an Ortega neighborhood landmark Wednesday.

Stephanie Hinson and Bronwen Krause  covered their faces with towels and stood in disbelief as smoke poured from the rambling three-story home two hours after it was reported at 2:30 p.m.


“Everybody would bring their kids to play in the oak trees and their families to take pictures out front,” said Hinson, 27, who grew up in the neighborhood.


“It’s incredibly sad,” she said. “It’s a historic landmark for this neighborhood.”


To some the 3744 Ortega Blvd. home was known as the Bettes Plantation House, Krause said. It was built in 1909, according to the property records.

Hinson said the husband of a neighbor called from downtown to say he could see the smoke.


The fire started in an upper corner of the house that had been under renovation for about two years. It spread across the third-floor attic area that had been converted into living space, said spokesman Tom Francis of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.


He said the house caught fire when workers were using a blow torch to strip paint on the exterior.

Francis said firefighters also could see smoke from the Ortega Bridge as they approached the northern end of the neighborhood where the house sat on more than an acre of land in the 3700 block of Ortega Boulevard.


The owner was inside the house and called 911, Francis said. He said the owner got out and no one was hurt in the fire where the damage is being estimated at more than $1 million. He estimated the house to be 5,000 to 6,000 square feet in size.


The owners, James and Diane Tompkins,  declined to comment.


Firefighters initially went inside the house where flames spread from one end to the other then withdrew to fight a defensive fire.


Firefighters never had a chance to save the house, he said. More than 60 firefighters were called. It was under control by 5:30 p.m.


As firefighters worked, a few portraits were brought out onto the lawn where neighbors would take them for safekeeping.


A man who was working at the house but would not give his name said he was in another part of the house when the fire started and tried to put it out with a garden hose. He said another worker had been in the area where the fire started.


Neighbor Susan Williams said renovations had been going on for two years to restore the house as originally as possible. Williams, 55, grew up in the neighborhood and remembered Christmas gatherings, Easter egg hunts and debutante balls at the house.


“History is gone,” she said.


From: http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-08-12/story/fire_destroys_historic_ortega_home

[stjr]

Bettes Park is located in southwest Jacksonville â€" part of the Ortega neighborhood that was designed in 1909 by prominent architect, Henry J. Klutho. It was one of four circular parks created along Park Avenue (now Baltic Street) and named after New World explorers. Originally known as Ponce de Leon Park, the name was changed by 1930 to honor Charles Bettes, a local pharmacist and partner with John N.C. Stockton in the Ortega Company, the subdivision’s developer. A highly respected citizen, Mr. Bettes built a grand home near the park prior to his death in 1916, at the age of 63. Elegant homes along Bettes Circle, including one built in 1924 by Charles Bettes Jr., surround the park, which provides benches for relaxing in the shade of many picturesque oak trees. The park comprises part of the unique charm of Old Ortega â€" designated a Historic District and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

http://wikimapia.org/12412461/Bettes-Park

[Steve]

My guess it was a heat gun, not a blow torch.  You can use a heat gun to strip paint, and if you are not careful, it can catch fire. 

What an unbelieveable loss

[stjr]

My guess it was a heat gun, not a blow torch.  You can use a heat gun to strip paint, and if you are not careful, it can catch fire. 

No telling.  Some people do some really stupid things.  That's how these things happen unfortunately.  Imagine, 2 years of loving (and probably very expensive) renovations up in smoke in an instant.  Plus, possessions, history, irreplacable workmanship and materials.  How sad.  I can't imagine. 

[Ernest Street]

No names of workers or the company? will there be charges?

[Deuce]

I'm willing to bet that the workers were not following directions to use of the paint removal tool. It probably says "Do not use on wood" on the side but they did anyway. How sad.

[Dog Walker]

You would have to work real hard to start a fire with an electric heat gun.  I'll bet they were using a propane torch.  It's very easy to get the flame through a crack between the clapboards that ignites the dust or debris in the wall cavity.  There are no "firestops" in the walls either.  These were balloon framed houses. The wall cavities run unobstructed from the sill to the roof.

Most of the wooden houses in Riverside, Avondale, Ortega are made of heart, longleaf pine, too.  The wood is so full of rosin that you have to drill a hole to drive in a nail, but the other name for the wood is fat lighter wood.  It burns hard and hot.

[Ernest Street]

This is another example of how you have to constantly check up on contractors.When you leave your house with them for the day...you leave your life with them.
Deuce is so right,Old mouse nests and other flammable stuff are hidden everywhere in those walls and heat guns will combust that stuff quicker than your hands can beat the flame out.
Is it leveled? or can these folks maybe rebuild such a historic piece of Ortega history. I wonder if a grant could be found?

[blizz01]

I know first hand that several (new) builders were on the scene yesterday casing it out like vultures.

[Captain Zissou]

This is such a sad story.  I have played in this yard a few times while growing up.  I used to wonder what life was like in the house when it was first built.  It looked like such a wonderful place to live.  This is a definite loss to the area.

[CrysG]

I know first hand that several (new) builders were on the scene yesterday casing it out like vultures.

Can't say I blame them....it's been a tough season for builders.

[blizz01]

And suppliers (me) - hmm, I suppose that makes me a vulture too....