Mother and child taken to hospital after Land O’ Lakes house fire

LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. — A Pasco County mother and daughter are in the hospital after their Land O’ Lakes home caught fire.

It happened at about 3:30 a.m. Thursday in the 9000 block of Runaway Breeze Drive. Firefighters said the two victims were trapped inside when crews arrived.

Pasco Fire Rescue said the mother was in cardiac arrest and her daughter was breathing but unresponsive. First responders brought the mom’s heart rate back, and now both are at Tampa General Hospital.

Many of the houses on Runaway Breeze Drive are not done being built, and the ones that are, are brand new.

For neighbor Ashton Cornwell and out-of-town visitor Nelsi Thomas, the fire was shocking.

“I heard booming, like loud. Like, it sounded like fireworks or someone throwing concrete in like a dumpster,” Cornwell said.

Deputy Chief Shaun Whited said early reports lead investigators to believe it was an electrial fire, but it is still under investigation.

“Talking with the fire marshal this morning, it looks like they had pinpointed it to a battery charger charging a motorcycle and it might have shorted out or something,” Whited said, adding that it took about 30 minutes to get the fire under control.

Cornwell said he wasn’t able to go back to sleep after the fire.

“I have never seen something like this and there were so (many) fire trucks. I was so scared,” he said.

Crews took measures to prevent any potential looting at the home.

(Spectrum News/Matt Lackritz)