Cause of Little Gasparilla fire still undetermined
The cause of a Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023 house fire on Little Gasparilla Island cannot be determined due to the nature and temperature of the fire, and the speed with which crews could get there to put it out.
“It was so far gone,” said Chief Bill Underhill of the Little Gasparilla Fire Department. State fire investigators came after the fire but were unable to determine the cause.
The fire was at a beach cottage at 9686 Privateer Road, near the south end of Little Gasparilla Island. The house, then unoccupied, was a complete loss.
The fire was so strong that it could be seen across the peninsula; the difficulty was that the winds that day were upwards of 30 mph, which fed the fire before assisting fire boat crews could come from Boca Grande and Englewood.
