Hillsborough County Fire Rescue fought a residential structure fire on Sydney Road in Dover early Wednesday morning, officials reported. Its dispatch center received a 911 call at 3:21 a.m. from a caller reporting a small barn on fire.
As responding crews approached the address, they could see a column of smoke billowing upward. After driving down a long dirt road to the scene, the first arriving units encountered a two-story house with an attached barn fully involved in flames. According to the news release, crews established a defensive attack, battling the blaze from outside the structure. All occupants were reported to be out of the house.
Firefighters overcame water supply challenges by utilizing water tanker trucks. A large tank was set up to hold thousands of gallons of water, which was sent down several hundred feet of fire hose and used by fire attack engines.
One firefighter was transported from the scene and is in stable condition. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.