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Fire Sparked Extra Caution From Authorities

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By HOWARD ALTMAN and CARLOS MONCADA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 28, 2008

Steven Blackwell has been behind bars since June 2, but his house at 4550 39th St. N in St. Petersburg became a headache for firefighters and law enforcement Friday night, authorities say.

A fire erupted in the vacant, one-story home at about 4 p.m., according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Earlier this month, Blackwell, 40, was arrested on several drug charges, including armed possession of cocaine, possession and sale of methamphetamine, and possession and sale of marijuana.

Based on some tips and their prior dealings with Blackwell, authorities thought the house might have had dangerous chemicals or even be booby-trapped. Firefighters, deputies, arson detectives and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office bomb squad responded.

"The fire department didn't even go inside the house to fight the fire – they fought it from the outside," PCSO spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said. "We don't believe it's a bomb per se, but we received information there's some very volatile substances in various combinations that could be explosive."

Bomb squad members entered the burned-out residence and found no explosive devices or booby traps, according to a PCSO media release. Certain chemicals were found in the residence in varying amounts.

The origin of the fire, according to the release, was in a utility room area in the southwest corner of the house. Detectives say it appears a pile of debris caught fire. Arson investigators are trying to determine whether the fire was set intentionally.

Blackwell's 984-square-foot house sits in a modest neighborhood of mostly small frame homes in Lealman, an unincorporated enclave north of St. Petersburg.

On Saturday, yellow "Do Not Cross" tape still surrounded the perimeter of the burned-out house and a smoky, charred smell remained in the air.

At the rear of Blackwell's property, blackened paint cans and propane tanks littered the yard and gasoline canisters sat atop a metal shed. Hubcaps were suspended from the top of a carport.

A neighbor, Dolores Gatto, 69, said she saw smoke pouring from the top of Blackwell's house and then heard a series of 12 explosions.

"It just kept going off and off," said Gatto, an eight-year resident of the neighborhood.

Gatto said Blackwell recently told her that he was having personal problems.

"He said, 'I lost my business and they're foreclosing on me,'" she said. " 'So I wish to hell there was a mountain or somewhere high where I could get away from people and life.'"

Gatto said Blackwell was in the construction trade.

State corporations records show Blackwell is president and director of Sinisist Inc., which has the same address as his house. The company was incorporated in 2004, but its corporate status was administratively dissolved last year for failing to file an annual report, records show.
Pinellas County court records show no foreclosure actions pending against Blackwell.

The fire wasn't the only action at the scene.

Freelance news photographer Eamonn Kneeshaw – who does contract work for WFLA, TBO.com and many other media outlets – was served with a notice to appear on an obstruction charge. Deputies say he did not comply with a deputy's directions to stay behind the fire hoses and perimeter line.

Kneeshaw said he was walking up to the yellow crime scene tape when Deputy Matthew Williams told him not to walk past his patrol car, which was about a half-block from the crime tape boundary.

The photographer said after an exchange with the deputy he asked to speak to a supervisor but was denied. Instead, Kneeshaw said, he was handcuffed and put in the back of a cruiser for about 15 minutes.

Kneeshaw said he developed chest pains and was taken to Northside Hospital, where he was later released. He is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 5 on the obstruction charge.

The fire was not the first time deputies visited the house since Blackwell was arrested.

Two days later, Pinellas detectives went to the home because associate of Blackwell's discovered what appears to have been a human skull stored in a box in a closet at the residence, according to the release. Detectives recovered the skull and sent it to a lab in Gainesville for examination. Detectives say the skull may have been used for academic purposes, and they intend to investigate its origin.

Editor Howard Altman can be reached at (813) 259-7629 or haltman@tampatrib.com

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