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Blaze at fireworks stand foiled
By MARY SPICUZZA PORT RICHEY -- Sheriff's Cpl. Kurt Pinto knew it was too early for a fireworks display. When Pinto saw smoke billowing from the Freedom Fireworks tent on U.S. 19 and Scenic Drive while on patrol, he and Deputy George Rodriguez decided to make an unscheduled stop. That's when they spotted 6-foot high flames, surrounded by hundreds of fireworks. "It could have been the Fourth of July," Pinto said. Instead the Friday afternoon fire in the busy Embassy Crossing shopping plaza parking lot was extinguished before firefighters arrived about 3 p.m. After Pinto called Pasco County Fire Rescue, Rodriguez grabbed his squad car's portable fire extinguisher and headed inside the tent toward a flaming gas-powered generator. "In a couple of bursts the fire was out," Rodriguez said. With the help of a passer-by, the Pasco County sheriff's duo dragged the smoldering generator away from the fireworks. Battalion Chief Doug Drape said the fire was out when firetrucks arrived, one minute after getting the call. "They were at the right place at the right time," Drape said. Rodriguez said he did what any deputy would have done and insisted Pinto should get the credit. "It could have been nasty without the extinguisher," he said. "And the keen eye of Cpl. Pinto." The fire began when Freedom Fireworks employee Angela Renee Lloyd tried to use a gas-powered generator to charge her cell phone. Chief Drape said the fire is under investigation. -- Mary Spicuzza can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6232 or toll-free 1-800- 333-7505, ext. 6232.
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From today's Pasco Times |
