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Flames licked a 10- by 10-foot hole in the roof of the house recently sold by a former Treasure Island commissioner.
By KATHY SAUNDERS
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 7, 2001
TREASURE ISLAND -- A late-night fire Monday caused an estimated $15,000 damage to an unoccupied house previously owned by a former city commissioner.
More than 30 firefighters from Treasure Island and five surrounding communities responded to the 10:20 p.m. blaze at 1 Treasure Lane.
Treasure Island Fire Chief Charlie Fant was conducting an investigation Tuesday, but said it possibly was an electrical fire that started in the attic on the west end of the waterfront home.
The fire burned a 10-foot by 10-foot hole in the roof of the house. The house also was damaged by smoke and water.
The one-story white house, just east of the bridge to Treasure Island's downtown district, until last month was owned by former Commissioner Susan Carboneau Givens. The 2,800-square-foot house was built in 1952. Fant said she sold the house in January to Martin Pozgay of Redington Beach.
Carboneau was at the house Monday night, he said, providing information about the house to assist firefighters who were battling the flames.
"There were flames and smoke showing and flames through the roof," Fant said. It took firefighters about an hour to control the blaze.
Fant said the new owner had recently installed carpeting in the house and was working on other renovations as well. He was planning to move into the home today, according to Fant.
Pozgay said he had had movers scheduled for 9 a.m. today.
The house had been under contract with another potential buyer last year when the city's planning and zoning board approved a change in the subdivision plat, allowing for two homes to be constructed on the site. But the board would not grant the prospective owner a variance on the setback required from Central/107th Avenue and that sale did not go through.