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The men are hurt battling a house fire accidentally started by a candle. As it raged, the blaze reached 1,500 degrees, liquefying carpet and metal, according to fire officials.
By CHRIS TISCH
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2002
LARGO -- The fire was so hot that the carpet on the floor of the home melted into a puddle. The aluminum window frames dripped and bled down the walls.
Enter Largo firefighters.
They had been dispatched to the fire at 11:53 p.m. Thursday. They arrived at the home, 5950 150th Ave., five minutes later and had their hoses unraveled and ready to go a minute after that.
Not sure if someone was inside, they laid down an attack hose line and went inside. By this time, the living room was in flashover: The heat had become so intense that the very air in the house had caught fire.
The entire room was ablaze. The temperature was about 1,500 degrees, said Largo District Chief Pat McGinley.
Firefighters' gear begins to degrade at 1,200 degrees.
Crew members sprayed water on the flames, hoping to bring the temperature down to 600 degrees or so. Then they could begin a search for people or pets.
It took five minutes of water to do that. Then they headed deeper into the home.
"They had to fight their way through the heavy fire conditions to see if anyone was in there," McGinley said.
One of the firefighters was Michael Ovitt, a 10-year department veteran. He was pulling ceiling, a delicate process of sticking a pole into the ceiling and pulling pieces of it down. This way firefighters can see if flames are dancing in the attic.
At 12:11 a.m., Ovitt was punching into the ceiling above him when it suddenly collapsed. A 4- by 8-foot sheet of burning drywall dropped on him. He fell to the floor. Fellow crew members picked him up and took him outside, McGinley said.
"The whole thing came down and dropped on top of him," McGinley said. "His vision was dark and he was dizzy."
An ambulance took Ovitt to Largo Medical Center, where he was treated for a mild concussion and later released. He'll be off for a few days to recover, McGinley said.
But the night wasn't over for firefighters.
They brought the flames under control and finished their search for people at 12:14 a.m. No one was inside. Crews continued to blast water at hot spots.
At 12:25 a.m., firefighter Shaughn Gulliver was inside when he suffered first- and second-degree burns to his right hand and arm. Though it wasn't known yet exactly how the injury happened, McGinley said molten carpet was found on his glove.
"It was so hot that the carpet had melted and was burning on the floor," McGinley said.
In addition, investigators found on the right sleeve of Gulliver's coat burn marks with aluminum in them. This may have been from the melting window frames. Aluminum melts at 1,400 degrees, McGinley said.
McGinley took Gulliver to Largo Medical Center in his command vehicle. The firefighter, who celebrated a year on the job last month, was treated and released. He will be on light duty until his injuries heal.
Neither injured firefighter was available for comment Thursday.
Fire investigators initially found the blaze suspicious. There was no power or water service to the home. It was unclear if anyone lived there. So how did it start?
McGinley said investigators later discovered that the fire was started accidentally. Two men live in the house, investigators found, although only one was home when the fire started.
That man, Robert Coronado, 39, told officials he was asleep on the couch that night. He had a candle burning on the table. When he awoke, the table was on fire.
Not able to reach a phone, he ran out of the single-family home, jumped on his bicycle and pedaled about 20 blocks to a convenience store. He called 911 and gave the address of the house that was on fire and hung up, McGinley said.
The fire destroyed the 1,116-square-foot home. It is a loss of about $40,000, McGinley said. A neighboring home also had about $500 damage from the raging fire's radiant heat.
Coronado also was taken to Largo Medical Center for a second-degree burn on his left hand. He declined assistance from the American Red Cross, McGinley said.