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Two families homeless after apartment blaze

By ASJYLYN LODER
Published March 19, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - A 3-year-old boy set a fire Sunday afternoon that left two Brooksville families homeless.

"I set him down to watch a movie, so I could mop the floor," said the boy's mother, Luvinia Brown, 30. "Next thing I know, my 7-year-old is yelling, 'Jay-shawn set the mattress on fire!' "

Brown said Jay-shawn, 3, must have taken her lighter from her purse.

"It's childproof. Half the time, I can't even work a childproof lighter," Brown said with disbelief, standing outside the gutted apartment.

Brown tried to put the fire out, dragging the burning mattress into the shower. But the fire quickly spread, burning her forearm. Brown escaped with Jay-shawn, her 7-year-old daughter and her 1-year-old baby.

Firefighters got the call at 3:40 p.m., said Brooksville Fire Capt. Stan Mettinger. They arrived to find flames shooting out the windows of the duplex.

Brown and her children were staying with her mother in Apartment 25 at the Tanglewood Apartments. The two-bedroom was completely gutted, while neighboring Apartment 27 was damaged by smoke, leaving both families without a home.

The owner of the complex found a motel room for her neighbors, but Brown said she didn't have a place to stay. "I know it was my baby's fault, but my mother still needs a place to lay her head," Brown said.

Brown said her daughter was inconsolable over the loss of her dolls. Brown's mother, who was at church when the fire broke out, returned to church after seeing her ruined home "to finish praying."

"But I thank God none of them got hurt," Brown said. "We are blessed."

Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 352754-6127.

[Last modified March 18, 2007, 20:49:26]