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2 weekend fires damage apartments

By Times Staff
Published May 29, 2006

TAMPA - Apartment fires in North and South Tampa caused more than a half-million dollars in damage over the weekend, officials said.

Tampa Fire Rescue responded to Newport Villas at 4902 N MacDill Ave. in South Tampa about 11:15 p.m. Saturday. Flames had engulfed 25 percent of a two-story apartment building when firefighters arrived.

Crews put out the fire within 30 minutes and reported no injuries. The Tampa Fire Marshal's Office blamed the blaze on "improperly discarded smoking material."

Officials said the fire started in downstairs apartment 810, occupied by 37-year-old Alberto Soca. He told investigators he left for about 20 minutes and returned to find the fire, which started on his couch.

Four apartments were damaged by smoke and water, displacing five adults and one child. The fire marshal estimated damage to be at least $575,000.

A fire at Brookside Apartments in North Tampa on Sunday morning caused less damage.

Firefighters responded to 5224 Riverhills Drive just before 10 a.m. to find the kitchen on fire at 5008 Sierra Place, Apt. 509. Keisha Davis, 21, told investigators she was heating grease on a stove top when she left the apartment for a few minutes.

Fire crews had the blaze under control within 20 minutes and managed to contain the damage to Davis' kitchen. Investigators estimated the damage at Brookside at $20,000.

Man, 43, charged in beating death

TAMPA - A homeless camp near the Port of Tampa turned into a murder scene early Sunday, police said.

Sometime Saturday night, Jeffrey Dale Clark, 43, used a blunt object to hit Francis Frank Enright, 56, several times in the head, Clark told authorities. Clark later called police to confess, but not before other men at the camp awoke about 6:30 a.m. Sunday to find Enright dead and Clark missing.

Tampa police said that four men shared the camp near 20th Street N and Durham Street. Enright had stayed there before, police said, and Clark stole his money after beating him in the head.

Police learned about the death after the other two men at the camp awoke Sunday and called 911.

Clark was arrested shortly before 7 a.m. at 1202 22nd St. S. He is charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon.

Hillsborough County jail records show that Clark was in state prison until recently on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and trespassing. He has other arrests that include additional assault charges and charges for burglary, grand theft and carjacking with a deadly weapon.

Ocala soldier dies in explosion in Iraq

OCALA - A 22-year-old soldier from Marion County was killed in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle during combat, authorities said.

Spc. Robert E. Blair of Ocala was in the streets of southern Baghdad Thursday when the bomb hit his Humvee, according to the Defense Department.

Capt. Douglas A. Dicenzo, 30, of Plymouth, N.H., also died in the attack. Both soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division in Baumholder, Germany.

Blair, who joined the Army in 2003, was the only son of Marion County sheriff's Lt. Allen Blair.

"Robert was not only my son, he was a courageous soldier, strong Christian and my hero," Allen Blair told the Ocala Star-Banner.

As of Saturday, at least 2,466 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 1,943 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

Stuck-open drawbridge delays traffic

ST. PETE BEACH - As if Memorial Day traffic wasn't bad enough, traffic came to a halt Sunday evening when the drawbridge to Tierra Verde opened and stayed that way for about 20 minutes, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Protocol is for the bridge tender to call the Sheriff's Office if there is a problem, said sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha. The Sheriff's Office heard from the bridge tender at 7:30 p.m. The call was to report that a mechanical problem caused the bridge to stay open.

The Sheriff's Office got another call at 7:48 p.m. to say traffic was flowing again.

Times staff, wire reports

[Last modified May 29, 2006, 05:32:27]