A 62-year-old Gainesville resident was taken to the hospital early Wednesday after jumping from a window to escape a fire in a two-story townhouse. It was the second Gainesville complex to catch fire in a month.
At about 2 a.m., Gainesville Fire Rescue responded to the Tower Oaks neighborhood, 1817 SW 69th Terrace, to find the townhouse engulfed in flames.
Nathaniel Long was taken to Shands at UF after jumping from his second-story window. Other residents, including a 15-year-old, were unharmed when they evacuated the apartment.
Because the townhouse was destroyed and deemed unlivable, the American Red Cross was called to assist the residents in finding a place to stay until they can be permanently relocated, an Alachua County Fire Rescue release stated.
Although it was a two-apartment building, the second townhouse was unaffected by the fire, ACFR spokeswoman Carol Davis said.
Davis said it is unclear if the townhouse had working smoke alarms at the time the fire started.
Although an inspector from the State Fire Marshal's Office was at the scene Wednesday morning, the cause is still unknown and under investigation.
