Hurricane Isaias winds fuel shed fire as crews protect Florida home
As Hurricane Isaias neared landfall, Florida firefighters battled a shed fire holding gasoline and propane.
A Florida family is thanking firefighters for braving extreme conditions to battle a fire threatening their home just before Hurricane Isaias made landfall.
Hurricane Isaias was nearing landfall in the Florida Panhandle when a backyard shed caught fire in Gulf Breeze, sending embers across the street and threatening a family’s childhood home.
Alex Brown had been worried about wind and storm surge. Then flames erupted around 6 p.m. in the shed where he had stored fuel for a generator and equipment to use after the storm.
A photo of Midway firefighters rushing toward the flames during 60 mph winds from Hurricane Isaias in Gulf Breeze, Florida on Oct. 9, 2026. (Image credit: Alex Brown)
“This is my childhood home. I grew up here,” Brown told AccuWeather. “I really thought it was going to be gone.”
Inside the burning shed were 40 gallons of gasoline and two propane tanks, Brown said. He grabbed a fire extinguisher, but the danger extended beyond his backyard as powerful winds carried embers toward neighboring properties.
“Just the embers from this, you could see them shooting across the street,” Brown said, describing winds of 60 mph. “I was thinking, this house goes ablaze, the whole neighborhood is going to be at risk.”
Reports of possible entrapment prompt dangerous response
Emergency crews may suspend responses during the worst of a hurricane when conditions become too dangerous. But reports that people could be trapped raised the stakes for the Midway Fire District.
“It was reported possible entrapment of three people, so that really changes things,” Midway Fire Chief Shannon Stone told AccuWeather. “We’ll tend to take a lot more risk when that’s the case for obvious reasons.”
As firefighters battled the flames in intense wind and rain, Brown and his family took shelter at a neighbor’s house across the street. Six people made it out, along with two dogs, a cat and a snake named Corny.
Crews faced the threat of flames spreading to other homes, along with dangerous flying and falling debris. Brown said one firefighter was taken to the hospital after an oak limb fell on him. The firefighter is okay, according to Brown.
‘They just did what they had to do’
The charred pieces of a Gulf Breeze, Florida shed after a fire broke out when Hurricane Isaias was beginning to make landfall in the Florida Panhandle. (Image: Bill Wadell)
The cause of the shed fire was unclear, but the emergency added another danger as Isaias approached: a fire threatening homes while severe weather complicated the response.
Brown said he was grateful to the firefighters who braved the conditions to protect his home and neighborhood.
“I hugged about six firefighters in the middle of that storm when they told me we were clear,” he said.
The crews’ departure underscored how dangerous the conditions had become. Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, at 8:30 p.m. CDT Friday, about two hours after the fire first started.
“They left their hoses. They just did what they had to do and got out of here,” Brown said. “That’s how dangerous the scene was.”
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