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Woman, dog die in blaze at Tampa mobile home

A male occupant wasn't home at the time of the fire. Neighbors say they know little about the couple.

By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN
Published August 29, 2006

TAMPA - Lew Green was signing on to the Internet Sunday night when he heard the banging of aluminum. Thinking someone was trying to break into his garden shed, he stuck his head outside his door, ready for a confrontation. But instead of an intruder, he saw flames shooting from the front window of his neighbor's mobile home across the street.

Green, 42, dialed 911 while running to the burning structure and screaming "fire!" at the top of his lungs, he recalled Monday. He banged on the side of the mobile home, in case someone was inside.

His neighbors - a man, a woman and their two dogs - had moved about a month ago into lot No. 18 at Lake Rose Village, off of 19th Street N near 148th Avenue. He opened the door and smoke poured out.

"I never heard dogs bark, I never heard screams, I never heard a smoke detector," Green said. "I didn't hear a thing."

Firefighters arrived six minutes after the first 911 call was made at 9:23 p.m. and took about 20 minutes to control the blaze, said Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Capt. Ray Yeakley. The park did not have fire hydrants, leaving firefighters to use water from trucks, Yeakley said.

Five minutes after arrival, they found the body of a woman toward the rear of the mobile home, Yeakley said. One of her dogs was dead about five feet away.

"There was pretty extensive damage," he said.

Neighbors said the couple had two dogs; Yeakley said they did not find a second dog, but investigators still needed time to comb the charred shell. The cause of the fire was still under investigation.

The dead woman had not yet been positively identified Monday afternoon pending an autopsy, said Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

The man was not home at the time of the fire.

Residents in this cluster of roughly 20 mobile homes stood outside the yellow police tape whispering Monday afternoon. They did not know whether the couple were married and knew very little about them, given their short time there.

A man who described himself as the manager of Lake Rose Village shooed reporters away, saying: "there's no news here."

Green said the woman was friendly, often waving hello.

"That's about it, just 'hi' and 'bye,' " he said. "It is really sad. The poor lady."

Dong-Phuong Nguyen can be reached at 813 269-5312 or nguyen@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 29, 2006, 01:24:02]