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Fire leaps up while no one home

By SHEELA RAMAN
Published January 11, 2007

LARGO - A fire that started in the back bedroom of a triplex caused about $50,000 in damage Wednesday afternoon, fire officials said.

The fire, which occurred about 1:50 p.m., took less than five minutes to extinguish, said Largo Fire and Rescue investigator Frank Bignotti.

No one was hurt in the fire and nobody was home at the unit, at 14681 64th St. N, when the fire occurred, but a mother and son were believed to have rented the unit. Fire officials had yet to contact them and did not have their names Wednesday afternoon.

Bignotti said he had not determined the exact cause of the fire, but it appears to have been accidental and started in the back bedroom.

Only that unit of the triplex was affected by the fire, although the fire department had to cut power lines to the other two units as a precaution, said David Stanton, assistant fire marshal for Largo Fire and Rescue. The fire mostly damaged the roof of the unit. Tufts of pink insulation were scattered throughout the living room, and roof and window pieces were charred.

Progress Energy cut the power to the unit next door because of damaged wiring in the attic, according to fire officials. The third unit was unaffected.

Dale Calvert, 41, lives across the street from the unit and saw the fire break out. He said there was a black cloud of smoke coming from the back of the house, over the roof.

"I thought someone was barbecuing," he said.

But then Calvert said he saw smoke coming out of the windows and was alarmed.

"I thought they had puppies," he said. They didn't. "I knew nothing could survive in that smoke."

Calvert made his way into the residence to investigate while another neighbor called the fire department, he said.

Times photographer Jim Damaske contributed to this report. Times staff writer Sheela Raman can be reached at sraman@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4158.

[Last modified January 10, 2007, 20:48:14]