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None injured as blaze guts home
By BILL VARIAN © St. Petersburg Times, published February 5, 2001 CRYSTAL RIVER -- Kathie Hutchinson's day began like most other Sundays. She and her husband, Chad, and their 3-year-old daughter, Kylie, took in breakfast at Jones' Restaurant near downtown Crystal River. Then she dropped her husband off with plans to spend the afternoon with her best friend's mother. That's where a Citrus County sheriff's deputy tracked Hutchinson down to tell her that her home had caught on fire. Investigators were still trying to determine what caused the blaze that destroyed part of the Hutchinsons' double-wide mobile home and left the rest coated with soot. No one was in the house at 9860 Beechland Ter. north of Crystal River around noon Sunday when a neighbor noticed flames coming from the home and called 911. "I'm still investigating, but I don't see anything suspicious with it," said Roger Rodriguez Jr., a law enforcement investigator for the State Fire Marshal's Office. Flame damage was confined largely to the master bedroom after volunteers with the DeRosa and Crystal River fire departments responded. But there was heavy smoke and water damage through much of the rest of the house, Rodriguez said. Hutchinson, 25, who sells business advertisements for the St. Petersburg Times in Citrus County, said she was most concerned about lost keepsakes. She kept photos and mementos in a nightstand from the funeral of a grandmother who died last year. "I'm just glad everyone's okay" she said. "We can buy new clothes and a new toothbrush." Hutchinson said she dropped off her husband at Ed's Tackle Shop in Crystal River after breakfast. He planned to do some work for a paving company while she visited her friend's mother, Angie Chancas, as she does most Sundays. She said she stopped by her own house around 11:30 a.m. on the way, mainly to pick up a dog, Puppy. The couple have several other hunting dogs, all of which were outside when the fire started and were not harmed. Hutchinson said she checked her phone messages and called Chancas to say she was on her way. She said she didn't go into the bedroom and didn't notice anything amiss. She couldn't venture what caused the fire. "It wasn't a cigarette because I don't smoke in the bedroom," Hutchinson said. "And it sure wasn't from cooking," she added, saying she doesn't do any unless it involves a microwave. She said she wasn't sure if she was still insured because she was behind in payments. The Hutchinsons have lived in the home since July and were in the process of selling the dwelling along with four acres of land.
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