Three people died early Saturday morning when a fire destroyed a mobile home in the rural Tropical Acres community.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office identified the victims as Tim Watts, 50; Mindy Watts, 51; and Rona Molin, 71.
All three lived in the double-wide mobile home at 11809 Gordon Drive. Molin was Mindy Watts' mother.
Investigators are still trying to determine what killed the victims. The cause of the fire also remains under investigation, sheriff's office spokesman J.D. Callaway said.
The victims' bodies were discovered after firefighters extinguished the 6 a.m. blaze.
The fire damaged the inside of the mobile home, but left few visible marks on the outside except around the window-unit air conditioner.
Neighbors said the Wattses and Molin were longtime residents of the area. Property records show Tim and Mindy Watts bought the home, built in 1974, in 2002.
According to neighbors, Molin used an oxygen tank; some said they heard an explosion as the fire engulfed the home.
At the scene of the fire, family members, friends and neighbors of the victims gathered outside the yellow police tape that cordoned off the property.
The community is a mix of mobile homes and site-built houses on large lots.
Steve Montalvo, who lives across the street from the burned house, said he tried to alert the residents to the fire after a neighbor called him shortly before 6 a.m.
Montalvo said he stood on the mobile home's front porch and banged on the walls and windows trying to alert the people inside. He backed off out of concern that the oxygen tank inside might explode.
Montalvo said the fire victims were pleasant people willing to help their neighbors.
"The community lost some good people today," Montalvo said.
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