March 4, 2025
Late-Night Fire Leaves Umatilla Family Homeless, Destroying All Belongings
By Kyle Coppola
Late-Night Fire Leaves Umatilla Family Homeless, Destroying All Belongings
UMATILLA, Fla. — A devastating late-night fire tore through a family home in Umatilla on Monday, leaving the Gowen family homeless and with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The fire, which broke out around 10 p.m. at 16900 SE 252nd Ave in a mobile home park, engulfed the residence, reducing a lifetime of memories and possessions to ashes.
The Umatilla Fire Department responded quickly to the blaze and successfully extinguished the flames. Efforts were made to ensure no other mobile homes were damaged and as of this writing there does not appear to have been any damage to surrounding homes. However, by the time the fire was under control, the Gowen family home was completely destroyed. Efforts to reach Umatilla Fire Chief Shane Lanoue for additional details were unsuccessful, as his voicemail was full.
(This was the home before the fire. Photo Credit – Google Images.)
Walker Gowen, who was inside the home when the fire started, described the devastation. “We are not exactly sure what started the fire. Everything we had is gone. Everything we own—food, clothes, shoes, all of it—is completely gone,” Gowen said. “Thankfully, everyone got out safe, including all of our animals. But we are in desperate need of any help.”
The home was occupied by multiple family members, including Walker’s mother-in-law, fiancée, sister, and two children. All managed to escape unharmed, but the family now faces an uncertain future, left without even the most basic necessities. For those wishing to donate clothing to the family you can contact Tina Farmer at 352-598-1492. The two toddlers who lived in the home are Autumn who is 3T and a shoe size of 8 and Gavyn who is a 5T and a shoe size of 10. They are in size 5 diapers.
(While the fire was extinguished, the family who occupies the home have lost everything and are in need of help.)
Ashley Sanders, a neighbor who witnessed the fire, described the scene as horrifying. “I was there with this family. They are my neighbors. It was horrific watching, and I can only imagine how they are doing right now,” Sanders said. “It all happened so fast and went up so quick.
In the wake of the tragedy, a GoFundMe page has been set up to support the Gowen family. They are in urgent need of clothing, food, and essential items to help them through this difficult time. Anyone wishing to donate or offer assistance is encouraged to do so as the family works to rebuild their lives from the ground up. That Go Fund Me Link is located here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/9b77y-help-a-family-rebuild-after-devastating-fire?attribution_id=sl:86925fde-bc47-4675-9a50-5f862ddf62d2&lang=en_US&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp13_c-amp14_t2&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=facebook
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
