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2 People Found Dead In Tampa Mobile Home Blaze

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By VALERIE KALFRIN The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 30, 2008

Updated: 08/30/2008 12:17 am

TAMPA - Melissa White feared something was wrong Friday 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. Friday, 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 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 during another search.

Investigators are looking at a variety of potential causes, including smoking at home and electrical problems, Yeakley said. The fire does not appear suspicious.

The home did not have a smoke detector, Yeakley said. Fire rescue personnel were at the mobile home park Friday 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 the home, White said she remembered the mobile home fire in 1982 in which her brother and sister died. "This brought back a lot of bad memories," she said.

News Channel 8 photojournalist Eric Hausmann contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at vkalfrin@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7800.

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