Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Woman saved; fire destroys home

A neighbor remodeling a house next door enters the burning house to see the owner trying to fight the fire.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published April 19, 2006

TAMPA - Sylvia Xiques lost her house Tuesday but some consider her lucky.

If neighbors on La Salle Street hadn't been remodeling their home early Tuesday afternoon, her fight against a fire could have gone unnoticed.

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

Tammy Lemus, 42, and 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 and then ran to Xiques' door, kicking 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, as she pulled the woman from 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, 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 pit bullterriers, 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 the dog, alive.

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

Xiques smiled and gave thirsty Jewels a dish of water.

Groffen said she's worried for Xiques, her husband and the dogs.

"Where are they going to go? With two dogs?"

The fire could have been more tragic had Lemus and Groffen not been around, Groffen said.

The cause of the fire, which began in a chair, is under investigation, Basham said.

Fire officials don't encourage people to try to tackle a fire by themselves. In the fight to save 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 813-226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 01:57:07]