 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Mobile home fire kills pets as some escape
By RYAN DAVIS, Times Staff Writer HUDSON -- Several animals died Tuesday in a mobile home fire, but neighbors said the real heroes were three men who left before the homeowner arrived. Marie Scott said three Time Warner workers opened the door to the burning double-wide home, allowing a virtual parade of animals to escape. "Some of them were scared to come out," said Scott, who called 911 from her home next door after she saw smoke. Homeowner Penny Kenly said her three house dogs -- Honey, Foxy and Sarah -- all escaped. So did some of her cats. At least seven animals died, said Pasco County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Mike Ciccarello. He said they were two cats, two puppies, two birds and a kitten. Kenly said that a third bird also died. She said she didn't know all the animals' names and that her middle school daughter Crystal named most of them. But, Kenly said, the puppies were Spaz and Precious. Kenly said she was at the River Ridge school complex at 2:32 p.m. when the fire started in the light blue home with white shutters at 13801 Oakwood Dr., where she has lived for 16 years. Her children said they wanted to stay after school so she returned home. "I was just coming home to check the mail and check on the animals," she said. She found firetrucks on her dirt driveway. They had arrived at about 2:40 p.m., Ciccarello said, and it took them about 13 minutes to get the blaze under control. "They say if everything's not burned, it's smoke damaged," Kenly said. Ciccarello said the cause of the fire was under investigation. As Kenly was looking for animals, her son, Jason, called her cellular phone to say he was ready to come home from school. She told him, "Our house burned down."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters Letters |
