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Fire that killed chef ruled an accident

His fiancee and her children lost everything in the blaze and are essentially left homeless.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published October 19, 2005

DADE CITY - The fire that took chef Bobby Tarver Jr.'s life early Sunday was an accident, according to the state Fire Marshal's Office.

"It was an accidental fire and an unfortunate tragedy," said Detective Thomas Bosco of the state Fire Marshal's Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations.

One that has devastated Tarver's fiancee, Sharon Roberts, and her family. The 12:49 a.m. Sunday fire left her, her three children and grandson homeless.

They weren't there when smoke overcame Tarver, 35, who was pulled out by firefighters and later died at Pasco Regional Medical Center.

"We lost everything," she said Tuesday.

The Red Cross put the family up at the Ancient Oaks Motel on Seventh Street for three days. Today is their last day.

"I've got a brother with a one-bedroom (apartment)," said Roberts, 40. "He told me we can stay with him because no one else will help us."

The couple had been together two years but hadn't set a date to marry. Roberts has two daughters, Lynette, 23, and Lekeisha, 17, a son, Michael 14, and Lynette's 3-year-old son, Jermaine. The ashes of Lynette's other child, Tymaron, who died Aug. 19 two minutes after birth, were inside the house. So was everything else the family owned.

"My kids don't have any clothes to go to school," said the mother of Lekeisha, who attends Wesley Chapel High School, and Michael, who attends Pasco Middle.

Investigators said that while the fire appears accidental, what actually happened Sunday may never be known.

Tarver's family and employers said Monday they were told he died of smoke inhalation. The Medical Examiner's Office said Tuesday it has not yet determined the cause of death.

One theory that has come out of the investigation: candles may be to blame, and the popular local chef may have spent his last moments fighting to save his burning home on Magnolia Avenue.

Tarver, who ran the kitchen at the downtown Dade City restaurant A Matter of Taste, was a smoker. But the power at the house was turned off Thursday, so Tarver and Roberts' family had to use candles at night. That's one possible cause, Bosco said, while bedding and mattresses likely fed the fire. The fire started out front, and firefighters found Tarver in the rear, lying in the kitchen. Tarver had problems with his rear door in the kitchen, so he blocked it with a refrigerator, neighbors said. Investigators aren't sure whether he was using the kitchen to fight the fire. No smoke detectors have been found inside.

Funeral arrangements for Tarver are still pending.

[Last modified October 19, 2005, 07:24:35]