Three Children Die in Jacksonville Mandarin Townhome Fire
Three children died Wednesday morning in a fire at a two-story townhome on Windergate Drive near Old St. Augustine Road in Jacksonville’s Mandarin area, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said. News4JAX timed the call at 5:13 a.m. Fire Chief Percy Golden said JFRD and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded.
Golden said crews arrived four minutes later and found heavy fire on the first floor and heavy smoke on the second. Two adults had already gotten out with two minors before firefighters arrived. Crews searched the home, found three children dead, and declared the fire under control at 5:38 a.m.
JFRD took two adults and two children to a nearby hospital with critical injuries, Golden said. Asked whether the three children and four survivors were related, he said they all came from the same residence and that investigators would not release more while the case was open. Authorities had not released names or ages at the News4JAX update.
A neighbor told News4JAX that bystanders caught a baby and an adult who came from a second-story window. The unit where the fire started was destroyed and two other units were damaged. The American Red Cross is helping seven adults and six children displaced by the fire.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office and JSO’s Homicide Unit are investigating. Golden did not give a cause. Neighbor Stephanie Gomez told the station the neighborhood has many children and that losing three so close to home was hard to take.
DeSantis Calls License-Plate Readers Out of Control
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday at Florida International University that the growing use of automated license-plate readers by law enforcement is “out of control” and that Florida needs legislative safeguards. WWSB said he supports tools used to investigate crimes but does not want broad surveillance of people who are not suspected of wrongdoing.
He pointed to systems including Flock Safety and said their use has expanded beyond toll collection to criminal surveillance. Police departments and sheriff’s offices largely operate the cameras at the local level, he said. He has asked for an overview of how state agencies use the technology and said state use appears smaller than local use.
“I’m all about having law enforcement have tools to be able to hold criminals accountable,” DeSantis said. “But I don’t want to have this become a surveillance state.” Florida Phoenix reported a DeFlock advocacy count of 7,169 such cameras in Florida (10th per capita, 6th per road mile). That is not a state inventory.
DeSantis said he previously backed an AI “Bill of Rights” that could have addressed digital-surveillance privacy; the Senate passed a proposal and the House did not act. He said he has never supported automatic speeding tickets. Any statewide limits would need the Legislature; he announced no bill and no timetable.
He said he is reviewing a New Hampshire roadside-camera approach as a possible model. “People are right to be concerned,” he said, drawing a line at surveilling regular Floridians’ movements.
Walton County Votes 5-0 to Pull Flock Cameras Off County Roads
Walton County commissioners voted 5-0 Wednesday to remove Flock license-plate readers from all county-owned and maintained rights-of-way, WJHG reported. Commissioner Dan Curry said the cameras come down once the county’s legal team writes the language.
The vote does not take the cameras off the map countywide. WJHG said they remain active in private communities, municipalities, and on state highways that are not under county jurisdiction.
Supporters told the station the system helps law enforcement track stolen vehicles and wanted suspects. Critics raised privacy concerns. Commissioners ended county-road use anyway.
This is a Wednesday vote result, not a statewide ban. It sits next to DeSantis’s FIU comments as a local action, not a duplicate.
Broward Board Weighs Closing 10 Schools As Enrollment Falls
Broward Superintendent Howard Hepburn asked the School Board on Tuesday to consider closing 10 schools next year as the third phase of “Redefining Our School District,” WLRN reported. The board has closed seven schools over the past two years. A final vote is expected in December.
This school year opened with 11,358 fewer students than 2025-26, costing the district about $100 million, WLRN said. Broward has 60,000 empty seats. Hepburn said the district can no longer fund those empty seats and that if it does not make the cuts, the state will.
Named campuses on the list include Banyan, Coral Springs, Silver Lakes, Dolphin Bay, Hollywood Park, Lloyd Estates, and Oakridge elementaries, plus Forest Glen, Walter C. Young, and William E. Dandy middles, in Coral Springs, Hollywood, Miramar, Oakland Park, Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, and Sunrise. Sunset Lakes Elementary in Miramar would be reconfigured as a K-8, not closed.
Hepburn said past closures and layoffs of 1,000 staff saved more than $100 million. Board member Adam Cervera warned that Schools of Hope charter operators can take vacant campuses; Hepburn said KIPP has approached only William E. Dandy. Board member Allen Zeman said only 3.4% of schools have been slated for closure while enrollment has dropped 40% and argued for aiming at 26.
The board is expected to form a boundary advisory committee in September. Some members want more schools added to the list then. |
