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Letter to the editor

House burns, but they count blessings

A Clearwater family sees it in the best light: No one got hurt, and precious family photos, important papers and a treasured antique hutch survived.

By DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD andCOLE HUTCHESON
Published June 28, 2007

CLEARWATER - Hours after a fire ripped through his home Wednesday, Mike Murdock ticked off the things he's thankful for.

The blaze didn't touch the antique hutch from his mother or the family photos stored inside.

The fireproof safe he and his wife, Maureen, had upstairs protected birth certificates and car titles.

And most of all, his family of five got out of the burning home safely.

"We got lucky, though, " said Murdock, 42. "All the way around, really."

Murdock's son Justin, 21, said he was sleeping around 5:30 a.m. when he felt heat and realized that his hair was burning.

A citronella candle he had left on the windowsill of his bedroom had ignited a curtain, causing a small fire between his mattress and the wall, he said.

"I was sleeping, " he said. "It singed my hair. It started smelling. It got really hot and then I woke up. I tried to put it out with two buckets of water. It just wasn't enough."

The fire spread up the wall and through the attic into a bathroom, an adjacent bedroom and the living room and kitchen of the home at 2157 Beverly Lane, off N Hercules Avenue in northern Clearwater.

Firefighters responded at 5:37 a.m. and extinguished the blaze at 5:53 a.m., authorities said. Flames damaged roughly half the house, and smoke damage extended throughout the house.

Damage is estimated at $60, 000 to $70, 000, said Clearwater fire spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts. The home, which was rendered unlivable, had a smoke alarm, but it did not work.

The Murdocks have lived for 11 years at the house, which is insured by State Farm. It has an estimated value of $214, 000, according to the Pinellas County Property Appraiser.

The fire and smoke caused extensive damage to the walls and the contents of the home, Mike Murdock said.

"It can be repaired, but structurally it's not too bad, " said Murdock, a field representative for Tremco, a business that manufactures roofing materials. "But it's going to have to be gutted."

Escaping the fire were Justin, Maureen Murdock, 39, and Mike Murdock, as well as their other children, Mitchell, 19, and Nathan, 16, family friend Brandon Shontere, 20, and the family dog Sasha. All escaped the fire without injury.

Maureen Murdock called 911 after the fire got out of hand.

"I woke up with the smoke thinking it was in the kitchen, " said Mrs. Murdock, a medical transcriptionist. "Then we found it in the bedroom."

The fire was small at first, she said, but then the flames spread to Justin's mattress.

"We were trying to find something to dump water from the sink, " she said. "I couldn't think and the fire was too fast."

For now, the family is staying with relatives. Murdock said his company will provide the family with a hotel room for the next few days. The Red Cross is supplying the family with clothing.

Nicole Hutcheson can be reached at nhutcheson@sptimes.com or (727)445-4162.

[Last modified June 27, 2007, 20:40:34]