A Bay area family is looking for a new place to live after a sudden fire destroyed their home in the early morning hours of Jan. 8.

  • Call to fire rescue came at 3:06 a.m.
  • Homeowner heard "loud explosion"
  • Cause of fire might have been electrical problem outside home

The fire happened on Moog Road in Holiday. Homeowner Eddie Richards said around 3 a.m. he awoke to a loud sound.

“We heard a loud explosion,” Richards said.

Pasco County Fire believes the noise came from the power lines right near the house. It somehow started it a fire in the garage.

“It’s a lot of flames coming through the garage door, and boom, you see all the smoke," Richards said. "You knew right away, you had to get out. You had 30 seconds, that’s about it."

The flames then spread to the rest of the house. Neighbors like John Leimgruber woke up worried that the fire might spread to theirs.

“With the rain pouring down and that fire shooting out of there, I’m on the side of the house with a garden hose, I felt like I was in the middle of Hurricane Irma again," Leimgruber said. "I didn’t know what was going on. It was crazy.”

Richards, his girlfriend and her son all escaped the fire unharmed. Firefighters put the blaze out in under 30 minutes, but in that small amount of time Richards lost his home of 20 years.

“20 years of sentimental stuff. Pictures. Everything. It’s all gone,” Richards said.

He and his family are now being helped by the Red Cross.

The exact cause of the fire is under investigation. Currently, it appears it was an electrical problem right outside the home.