Digest

Five children escape from house fire

By Times Staff Writer
Published October 25, 2007

TAMPA

Five children were home alone when a fire broke out at their house shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The kids, ages 7 to 16, first smelled smoke, though the house had no smoke detector to sound a piercing warning, a Tampa Fire Rescue spokesman said. When the kids explored further, they found their back bedroom on fire.

The children escaped quickly and were spared any injuries. But the rented house at 2007 E North Bay St. suffered losses of about $85,000, Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said.

Twenty-three firefighters brought the fire under control within 20 minutes. A fire inspector determined the cause of the blaze to be an electrical problem in a television set.

WESLEY CHAPEL

New site chosen for central Pasco hospital

Backing away from an earlier choice that became a political hot potato, a joint venture to build Wesley Chapel's first hospital settled Tuesday on an alternative location near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and State Road 56.

In June, University Community Hospital and Adventist Health System won a coveted state certificate to set up a hospital in central Pasco.

The hospital was first slated to go on 40 acres at SR 54 and Tupper Road, in a neighborhood known for its few clogged and narrow roads.

Now, the hospitals have confirmed that the joint board for the new hospital approved locating the 80-bed facility to a site just north of the future Shops at Wiregrass.

NEW PORT RICHEY

Authorities identify swimmer who died

The man who Pasco authorities say died Tuesday afternoon while on a canoeing trip with friends was identified Wednesday as Kenneth Doscher, 52, of 5715 Acropolis Lane in New Port Richey.

Doscher and Christopher Corbett, 23, and Timothy Hollywood, 42, were on a small island in Veterans Village when Doscher jumped into the water for a swim, said Doug Tobin, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.

Doscher's friends tried to save him, but couldn't. So they pulled him back into the canoe and paddled to a nearby home at 3425 Van Nuys Loop, Tobin said. Doscher's cause of death will be determined by toxicology results.

[Last modified October 25, 2007, 00:02:08]