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Woman Killed In Dunedin Blaze Had No Electricity

Mark Schantz/SUNCOAST NEWS

A 38-year-old woman was found dead inside her duplex apartment early this morning after a fire broke out there, Pinellas County sheriff's officials said.

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: January 24, 2008

Updated: 01/24/2008 02:35 pm

DUNEDIN - A 38-year old woman died in a house fire that broke out early Thursday. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office identified the victim of the fire as Christina Foley at 1017 Michigan Drive E., Apartment A.

William McElligott, fire marshal for the Dunedin Fire Department, said it appears Foley's death was an accident resulting from a series of sad circumstances.

Donald Bumpas, who lived in the neighboring duplex unit and tried unsuccessfully to rescue Foley, said she had been lighting her home with candles because her power had been cut off.

McElligott said firefighters also had been told Foley had been without electricity and was using candles.

A spokeswoman for Progress Energy Florida, Cherie Jacobs, would only confirm that the unit at Foley's Michigan Drive East address had no active electric service at the time of the fire. Citing customer's privacy, Jacobs said she could not comment specifically on Foley's situation.

Jacobs stressed, however, that Progress Energy is willing to work with customers who cannot pay their electric bills by asking the utility for help.

Cecilia Barreda, a sheriff's office spokeswoman, declined to comment on whether Foley was without electric power. She said the investigation had just started.

After receiving a report of the fire, firefighters responded quickly and were able to contain the blaze to the living room area, McElligott said.

Foley's unit had a fire detector but there was no battery in it, according to McElligott.
"This is a classic case of if a smoke detector had been working, it would have alerted her to the fire and she could hopefully have gotten out," he said.

Foley was found in the living room near the front door. It is easy to become disoriented in a fire and quickly be overcome by carbon dioxide and smoke, McElligott said.

Firefighters were able to resuscitate Foley's dog, a Chihuahua, but her cat could not be saved, the fire marshal said.

Bumpas, the neighbor, said late Thursday morning he was checking on his car shortly after midnight when he heard crackling and smelled smoke. That's when he noticed the fire in Foley's duplex unit.

Bumpas said he tired to get in the front door but it was blocked from opening, perhaps by a security chain. He called inside to see if anyone was there and then ran to call the fire department, he said.

Bumpas and three others living in the second apartment escaped without injury.

McElligott reported there was about $60,000 worth of damage to the building. It now has to be checked by a building official before anyone would be able to live in it again.

Bumpas said Foley worked as a bartender. "She was a nice lady," he added.

According to a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office report, Foley's body was discovered just inside the front door and she could not be revived.

The results of an autopsy conducted to determine the cause of Foley's death were not available. Detectives from the arson and homicide unit were investigating the fatal blaze, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Information from TBO.com was used in this report.

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