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Christmas Tree Catches Fire, Burns Down Home

By JASON GEARY | The Tampa Tribune
and JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 23, 2007

TAMPA - TAMPA - A Christmas tree fire "totally devastated" a single-family home this morning in the Citrus Park area, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials said.

The homeowners were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital. They had inhaled smoke and were transported for precautionary evaluation, said Lt. Bruce Delk, spokesman for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, in a release.

The homeowners' granddaughter and her friend were asleep at the home during the blaze, the release said. They woke up due to a smoke alarm sounding, as well as noise from a nearby hallway. They escaped from a bedroom window because the bedroom door was too hot to touch.

"The official cause of the fire will be released at a later time but all evidence points to the fire starting in the area of the artificial Christmas tree," Delk said.

Joe Wakefield, the son of homeowners Joseph and Bonnie Wakefield, searched through the home's charred remains this afternoon looking for anything salvageable. Family presents and antique furniture from Germany were destroyed, and the Christmas tree was a tangle of wires near the front door.

Wakefield only has found one photo so far: It's of two of his parents' six grandchildren.

He said he was glad everyone made it out alive from the blaze but was upset about damaged possessions.

"Everything is gone," he said.

Firefighters remained on scene late this morning at 5825 Bitter Orange Ave.

The family said that when plugging in the artificial Christmas tree, a breaker was tripped, according to a release. The Christmas tree was on fire when a homeowner returned to the living room after resetting the breaker.

A call came in to firefighters about 7 a.m.

About eight units and 24 firefighters came to extinguish the blaze and transport people to the hospital, according the release.

The value of the home is listed at more than $203,000, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Web site.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691. Reporter Jason Geary can be reached at jgeary@tampatrib.com or (813) 865-1505.

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