Woman sought in string of fires

Witnesses say she threw burning objects from a sport utility vehicle, starting eight small blazes along Nebraska Avenue.

By MATTIAS KAREN

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 7, 2000

PALM HARBOR -- Pinellas County sheriff's deputies said they were searching Tuesday for a woman who started eight small fires along Nebraska Avenue on Monday afternoon by throwing flaming objects from her sport utility vehicle into dry grass.

One of the fires came within inches of a house, according to witnesses who helped put out the flames.

The woman was driving a green 1990 Nissan Pathfinder, sheriff's Sgt. Greg Tita said. Witnesses described her as white, about 30 years old, with long blond hair.

Firefighters, along with passers-by, extinguished all eight fires before major damage was done.

Tita said the woman could face charges of arson and possession and manufacturing of a firebomb. He said deputies did not know why she tried to start the fires.

"We need to locate this person," Tita said. "This is very serious. A small fire like this can very quickly spread to a residence and cause loss of life.

"We're sitting on a tinderbox right now. We need rain, we certainly don't need anyone driving down the road throwing out burning objects." Robert Hampton was driving home from a doctor's appointment around 2:45 p.m. when he saw smoke rising from the front yard of 1835 Nebraska Ave.

"I said "Holy cow, what's that?' " Hampton said. "My wife said, "My God, that house is on fire.' "

Hampton and his wife, Barbara, pulled over and saw most of the grass in front of the house burning. Hampton called 911 on his cellular phone. Realizing that the house was in danger, he then gave the phone to his wife, grabbed a fire extinguisher out of his van and started fighting the fire.

He was soon joined by Lennie Pici and Timothy Boniface, two Time Warner employees who had stopped after seeing the fire. Pici also had a fire extinguisher in his van, while Boniface grabbed a shovel out of his truck. Together they hosed down and shoveled dirt on the flames, "anything we could do to put it out," Hampton said. "And together we managed to put it out."

Just as the firetruck was pulling in, the last flames were dying just 6 inches from the house.

"I'm glad there wasn't any big trees or bushes (in the yard)," Boniface said, "because they would have gone up. It was moving quick."

Several trees grow near the house and along Nebraska Avenue, but Boniface said the wind was blowing away from the trees.

The homeowner was out of town, Palm Harbor fire inspector Jim Fletcher said. No other buildings are directly next to the house, Fletcher said, but had it caught fire, the flames could have spread easily.

"As dry as it is, it could definitely have taken off, and we would have had problems," Fletcher said. Tita said Fletcher's arson dog, Scott, found a small aluminum object containing an accelerant, which was likely the cause of the fire.

Seven more fires were set between 16th and 19th Street on Nebraska Avenue, Tita said. Another aluminum object and a plastic bottle containing the same accelerant also were found at the sites of two of the other fires.

Other homes had close calls too, Tita said. Smaller fires were set in front of 1803 and 1619 Nebraska Ave. as well. The owner of 1803 Nebraska Ave. used a garden hose to put out a small fire in the front yard before firefighters arrived, Tita said.

As news of the fires spread, more residents and passers-by came to help put them out, but no one saw the Pathfinder's license plate. Tita said two people driving behind the woman saw her throw the burning objects out her window, but they stopped to help put out the fires instead of trying to get close enough to read her license tag.

"If it wasn't for the quick actions of the public, we would probably have had a heck of a situation," he said.

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