POLK CITY, Fla. — Fire crews responded to a house fire in Polk City that destroyed three homes and damaged a fourth Wednesday evening.

  • Fire occurred at Mount Olive Shores North community
  • No injuries were reported
  • More Polk County stories

It happened just after 5 p.m. Wednesday on Motorcoach Drive inside the Mount Olive Shores North community.

Crews responded to the gated RV community and began evacuating neighbors.

No injuries were reported.

Polk Fire Battalion Chief "in right place at right time"

According to a Polk County Fire Rescue spokesperson, agency Battalion Chief Brian Golden just happened to be driving down State Road 33 in Polk City, saw smoke coming from one of the homes in the community, and immediately stepped in to help.

"He was just happened to be at the right place at the right time," said spokesperson Chris Jonckheer. "Had his head on a swivel, was paying attention, noticed the signs, got there and got everything started quickly."

Jonckheer explained that Golden helped two people out of the home where the smoke was coming from and called in the fire. 

Another man made it out of one of the homes the fire spread to, while the third home destroyed was unoccupied at the time. 

A witness who saw the fires while driving by, Karalynn Pope, told us it was a heartbreaking sight, but she's glad someone else who saw the fire was trained to fight fires and save lives.

"it’s great that we have our firefighters, our EMT’s, our paramedics, our law enforcement that do their job everyday and do not hesitate to put their life on the line for us," Pope said.