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Neighborhood news

Observant Scout saves this business

By MICHAEL A. MOHAMMED
Published April 6, 2007

As Rolfe and Harrison Thompson drove home from a Boy Scouts meeting Monday night, the father and son noticed an orange glow in the sky over South Tampa.

Rolfe found it odd, but kept driving.

But 14-year-old Harrison kept watching. "Hey, Dad, that looks like a fire," he said.

His father made a U-turn, and the pair soon discovered 20-foot flames coming from a two-story house at 701 W Bay St.

"He tends to be an observant person," Rolfe Thompson said of his son, who in May will become a Life Scout, one rank below Eagle.

Rolfe Thompson's 911 call at about 8:30 p.m. alerted Tampa firefighters, who showed up in three minutes.

Harrison's hunch probably saved the building, said Tampa Fire Rescue spokesman Bill Wade. A little longer and the flames would have reached the attic, consumed the roof, and devoured the building.

The house and a neighboring converted garage housed the offices of Schifino Lee Advertising, a prominent Tampa agency, which has rented the property for 10 years.

No one was in the building during the fire, which started with an electrical malfunction, Wade said.

Lee secured a temporary office, and his 25 employees were back at work by Thursday.

Except for a couple of second-floor offices, most of the building's contents were dirty but salvageable.

"Twenty-five percent is completely burned and the other 75 percent looks like Pompeii," Lee said, referring to the ancient Roman city buried in volcanic ash.

The company was prepared for the disruption - it markets disaster recovery and remote data backup for AT&T.

"All of our data was backed up and retrievable," Lee said. "The damage to our business was just a hassle."

But it could have been a lot worse.

"If it had burned another five minutes, everything would have gone up in smoke," Lee said.

Watching about 25 of his men search the wreckage for hot spots Monday night, Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Toby Hart was surprised to learn that the tan-uniformed boy standing nearby was the first to spot the fire.

"He was probably just after a merit badge," Hart joked.

Tuesday morning, Harrison stopped by the burned office on his walk to school.

"He said he just wanted to check in," Lee said.

Lee shook his hand.

Michael A. Mohamed can be reached at mmohammed@sptimes.com or 813 226-3404.

[Last modified April 5, 2007, 08:10:49]