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Fire destroys garage in Sugarmill Woods

A woman finds her 2004 Lexus on fire and a damaged Mercedes. The house was also damaged, but firefighters were able to contain the blaze.

By MOISES MENDOZA and CATHERINE SHOICHET
Published July 11, 2006

SUGARMILL WOODS - A Sunday morning fire in Sugarmill Woods destroyed a garage and damaged the rest of the home.

No one was injured in the blaze at 145 Pine St.

The fire started about 4:45 a.m. According to a Sheriff's Office report, Katherine Williams, 45, said she was home with her boyfriend about an hour before the fire when she smelled something funny.

She opened a door leading to the garage and saw her 2004 Lexus on fire.

A 1972 Mercedes in the garage was damaged as well.

Citrus County firefighters arrived shortly after 5 a.m. and were able to contain the fire to the garage.

The fire was briefly a topic at Monday's Water and Wastewater Authority meeting. Director of utilities regulation Robert Knight said a rumor was circulating that a fire hydrant near the home was not working when firefighters tried to put out the blaze.

But Bernadine Flood-Nichols, a spokeswoman for the Florida Governmental Utility Authority, said officials from the utility had tested three hydrants near the house Monday morning. All of them worked, she said.

In other news:

An Inverness man was arrested Saturday night after he was accused of threatening a woman with a pool stick.

Eric Faivre, 36, threatened to hit Melissa Johnson, 25, after Johnson helped her best friend and the friend's boyfriend move their property out of Faivre's house on Cherry Avenue, according to an arrest report.

The report did not explain why their property was in Faivre's house.

After he was arrested by deputies, Faivre was booked into the Citrus County jail and held in lieu of $3,000 bail on a charge of aggravated assault.

Moises Mendoza can be reached at mmendoza@sptimes.com or 860-7337.

[Last modified July 11, 2006, 06:44:09]