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Tampa woman escapes house blaze

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published April 18, 2006

TAMPA - Sylvia Xiques is a lucky woman.

If her neighbors hadn't been remodeling their home on La Salle Street early Tuesday afternoon, she could have died trying to save her home from a fire.

"She would have died," said Pat Groffen. "She didn't want to come out."

Lemus, 42, and Pat Groffen, 53, were helping remodel the bungalow next door to Xiques' house.

About 12:30 p.m., Lemus heard a crackling sound. She looked over at Xiques' home at 2329 W La Salle St. She saw smoke pouring from a window. Then, she noticed Xiques' car in the driveway.

She called 911. Then, she ran to Xiques' door. She kicked it open. Inside, she found Xiques trying to put out the large blaze.

"Come in and help me put it out," Lemus remembers Xiques told her.

No way, Lemus said she thought, and pulled the woman out of the home.

Groffen then grabbed a garden hose and tried to do what she could.

"I was standing there with the water hose, just trying to contain it," she said. "I knew I couldn't, but what are you going to do?"

Moments later, Tampa Fire Rescue arrived at the home, located just south of I-275 between Armenia and Howard avenues. Within five minutes, the fire was out, said Fire Rescue Capt. Troy Basham.

Xiques' hair was singed by the fire, and her glasses were dusted with ash, but she was safe, Groffen said. Xiques' husband, Evelio, was not at home at the time, Groffen said.

One of the couple's two pitbulls, Buster, escaped the fire along with Xiques. But the other dog, Jewels, had disappeared into the back yard.

Xiques sat on the porch of her neighbors' home, smoking a cigarette, as she awaited word on Jewels.

Shortly after 1 p.m., Hillsborough County Animal Services worker Denise Brewer walked up to Xiques. She'd found Jewels.

"She was a sweetheart," Brewer said of Jewels. "She just wanted to get her mom back."

Xiques smiled and gave Jewels a dish of water, which she quickly lapped up.

Groffen said she's worried for Xiques, her husband and the dogs now that they've lost their home.

"I just feel bad because they lost everything," she said. "Where are they going to go? With two dogs?"

But the fire could have been more tragic had Lemus and Groffen not been around that day, she said. It was clear Xiques could have endangered herself by trying to save the house.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Basham said. He did say it began in a chair in the front left corner of the home.

Fire officials don't encourage people to try and tackle a fire by themselves.

In the fight to save their possessions, people often underestimate the danger and are trapped inside, he said.

"Instead of saving the home, we then have a rescue," he said.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 18, 2006, 18:42:51]