WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — The Winter Haven Fire Department responded to a fire in the Cypress Shores Mobile Home Park off Highway 92 about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

• Police: Rounds of ammunition in home going off when firefighters arrived
• Neighbor: No guns in home; homeowner's oxygen tanks exploded
• Homeowner hospitalized, in stable condition

According to the Winter Haven Police Department, when firefighters arrived, there were rounds of ammunition located inside the home that were firing off.

Neighbors said they were told to leave the area because emergency workers were afraid they might get hit with something.

"You could actually hear them going swish, you know, from one direction to another," said neighbor Patti Bradley. "Then you would hear them go swish, swish, swish, you know, like you were on a range."

The police department said homeowner Edwin Stensel, 69, was cooking inside his kitchen when the fire started.

They said he's a veteran who carries an oxygen tank around with him.

When Stensel's friend, John Weiland, saw the fire, he was afraid he might be trapped inside.

"I thought he was in there. I thought he might be asleep. That's what I was worried about. I ran across the field and one of the cops said "Whoa, you can't come over here" so I couldn't get to the house," Weiland said.

Stensel managed to get out on his own. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Ammunition, or something else?

Weiland said it might have been the oxygen tanks that were exploding.

"No, no no. There's no guns in that house," he said. "The noise was the oxygen tanks. They exploded."

The intense heat started to melt a neighboring home's siding and carport. There were also two liquid propane tanks on the outside of the structure, but the firefighters were able to keep the tanks from exploding.

"The close proximity of these homes poses huge challenges to fire fighters,"  said Police Chief and Fire Administrative Director Charlie Bird. "Our fire fighters did an outstanding job in protecting neighborhood structures as well as ensuring the two LP tanks did not explode."

It took about 20 minutes to get the fire under control.

One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion at the scene. 

The cause of fire is under investigation.