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2 People Found Dead In Tampa Mobile Home Blaze
News Channel 8 photo by ERIC HAUSMANN
Investigators have not determined the cause of the fatal fire but say it does not appear suspicious.
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Published: August 29, 2008
Updated: 08/29/2008 10:05 am
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TAMPA - Melissa White feared something was wrong this morning when she pulled up to the Hi Pines Mobile Home Park and her friend wasn't waiting outside with his coffee.
Two men died in a fire there about 2 a.m. today, firefighters said. White, 32, of Seminole Heights, said she thinks her friend Paul Brinson, 65, was one of them, along with his roommate, Paul Price.
"I drove by this morning because we had plans to wash my car and run errands," said White, crying. "I just saw him yesterday. … I didn't give him a hug, and now I'll never be able to."
The state fire marshal's office is investigating the cause of the blaze that erupted at 12224 N. Florida Ave. As firefighters rushed inside the home to check for victims, an oxygen cylinder inside the home exploded.
More firefighters rushed inside to rescue the initial responders, and all of the firefighters escaped without injury, Hillsborough Fire Rescue spokesman Ray Yeakley said.
The fire was brought under control in about 20 minutes, Yeakley said. Firefighters found one man dead during the initial search, then found the body of a second man when they conducted another search.
Investigators are looking at a variety of causes, including smoking at home and electrical problems, Yeakley said. The fire does not appear suspicious.
The mobile home did not have a smoke detector, Yeakley said. Fire-rescue personnel were out at the mobile-home park this morning, offering smoke detectors to residents, he said.
Fire officials have not released the names of the men who died because of pending identification. White said she thinks the men are Brinson, whom she knew for years, and Price, whom she had met but did not know well.
She and Brinson became friends after he dated her cousin, she said. She and her fiance thought he was a good man and a good friend to both of them, she said.
"He's usually out front drinking his coffee," she said. "He would help me do my chores."
White said Brinson was a retired merchant marine who had survived a fire on a ship. "He got burned really bad. He had skin grafts all over his body," she said.
Seeing the blackened bedroom window of Brinson and Price's home, White said she remembered the mobile home fire in 1982 where her brother and sister died. "This brought back a lot of bad memories," she said.
NewsChannel 8 photojournalist Eric Hausmann contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.
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