Arson Tampa Fire

Latest blaze at troubled apartment complex ruled arson

Tampa Fire Rescue A three-alarm fire was reported Monday morning at the Waterman's Crossing apartment complex, 4515 N. Rome Ave., in Tampa. ADVERTISEMENT

By NEIL JOHNSON and KEITH MORELLI The Tampa Tribune Published: August 3, 2009 Updated: 08/03/2009 04:41 pm Related Links •

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July fire ruled arson

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Electrical short blamed in '08 fire TAMPA - A fire that raged through an apartment complex building this morning was arson, investigators said, the second in less than a month at Waterman's Crossing. The fire started in a vacant apartment next to an empty apartment where another fire was intentionally set July 9. Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said he did not know whether there's a connection between the two fires. The latest blaze caused much more damage, estimated at $500,000, and left 18 units destroyed or damaged and more than 50 residents displaced, Wade said. No injuries were reported. The American Red Cross reported it had helped provided food and clothing to 15 families. Immediately after the fire, frustrated residents complained the alarm systems failed. But a maintenance worker who ran through the burning building banging on doors to rouse residents and pulling alarms said the alarms did work. A city code enforcement officer confirmed the alarms were working in the complex's common areas. Firefighters needed about 45 minutes to knock down the worst of the flames at the complex at 4514 N. Rome Ave., just north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The alarm came in at 8:20 a.m. Flames were showing through the roof of a three-story building, leaping 50 feet into the air, when the first of about 60 firefighters and 20 pieces of equipment responded to what became a three-alarm fire, Wade said. Wade said the fire was in Building G, which has 36 apartments, 25 of which were occupied. Apartment managers and the American Red Cross are working to find housing for displaced residents. Four units were a total loss, two others had smoke and fire damage and 14 more had water damage. The roof of an adjacent building had heat and fire damage, but firefighters arrived just in time to keep the building from catching fire, Wade said. "We knocked on doors and made sure everybody got out," maintenance worker Jerry Thompson said. "The alarms went off and that helped." But two residents said they didn't hear alarms. "I was in bed asleep," said Kentral Sampson, who moved into the complex in February. She said her sister woke her and told her there was a fire in their building. "There was no alarm at all. "My whole apartment is caved in," she said. "I work hard. I'm pretty sure I lost everything. I have nothing left at all." Priscilla Carrodegua also lives in the building. "The fire alarms didn't go off," she said. A fire at the complex in September revealed numerous violations, including many apartments without working smoke alarms and holes in firewalls between apartments. That fire was caused by a candle that was knocked over.

The complex hired fire inspectors to work at night and alert residents if a fire broke out until repairs were made, a step also taken in 2007 when the complex faced similar problems. There also was a fire in November caused by an electrical short that caused about $20,000 damage to a vacant unit. The most recent fire marshal's inspection, on Dec. 30, found no fire code violations. The fire in July, also ruled arson, caused about $25,000 damage. Previous code violations had been fixed and smoke alarms were working at the time, officials said. City code enforcement officer Jack Ciucio said none of the open code enforcement cases at Waterman's Crossing involves fire safety. There are some open complaints about issues such as leaks and toilets. "They are normal apartment problems," Ciucio said. Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731. MORE FROM THIS CHANNEL • North Korea: 2 U.S. journalists pardoned • Storm coach dismayed by reports of Arena league's demise • Tampa officer's transportation card targets drunken driving • Beyonce, Lady Gaga nab most MTV video nominations Reader Comments Voice your opinion by posting a comment. View Paginated Posted by ( RRR ) on 08/03/2009 at 09:02 am. Repeated violations? Someone with testicles should use them and arrest the owners for these violations. Hold them for 2-3 days in the lockup, post their names and faces, make a big deal out of it (which it is). Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( firewalker ) on 08/03/2009 at 09:13 am. "A fire marshal's report Dec. 30 noted that all problems had been solved."No need to arrest anyone. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( slappy ) on 08/03/2009 at 09:32 am. I have been at those apartments before and it seems to me that all that is there is trailer trash. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( Jsmooth529 ) on 08/03/2009 at 10:18 am. (This comment was removed by the site staff.) Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( cocotampa ) on 08/03/2009 at 10:42 am. sounds like the owner just wants these apartments gone . Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( Old_Crusty ) on 08/03/2009 at 10:48 am. 10:48AM, Slappy, you don't like homeless people, trailer parks, and now apartment renters. Where DO you live? Next door to Derek Jeters place? Or more likely, in the Fantasy Castle at Disney World? ;-I Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( Old_Crusty ) on 08/03/2009 at 10:51 am.

10:51AM, I just checked, "Slappy" was not one of the ORIGINAL seven dwarfs. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( temporaryresident ) on 08/03/2009 at 11:33 am. As a soon to be former resident, I can assure you all that they are not keeping up anything in that place! My unit happens to be just a few feet away from the building where the fire started (thank god no damage to my unit) but the two young women and a few others they speak of lost everything, along with thousands in damage. I am set to move into my new place on the 15th and can not wait! There is mold in units on the first floor, one lady's apartment is flooded becasue her water heater broke and the rain from the other day didn't help (her unit now smells like mold). The ceiling just outside of my unit collapsed last year (just after I renewed my lease) and I highly doubt they did a mold check, let alone check the wiring that is messed up. I'm praying that nobody was hurt, it looks good on that so far. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( usfsmartie ) on 08/03/2009 at 11:47 am. I hope they have good renter's insurance. (Can you even get renter's insurance at a complex that has had more fires than boy scout campground?) Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( temporaryresident ) on 08/03/2009 at 11:51 am. @ usfsmartie...I don't think they had renters insurance, and the really messed up part about it is the woman and her sister that woke her up were set to move out at the end of the month! Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( Stardog ) on 08/03/2009 at 01:33 pm. Wade says,with a large number of people living in a complex like this your're going to have fires?????WTF does that mean? Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( felixthecat ) on 08/03/2009 at 02:00 pm. now the good news verizon will still charge them $60 to move there phone. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( nickatdabeach ) on 08/03/2009 at 03:07 pm. (This comment was removed by the site staff.) Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( TheSecondTimeAround ) on 08/03/2009 at 03:27 pm. RENTER'S INSURANCE - ALL RENTERS - if you rent an apartment, there is no insurance for your stuff unless you buy insurance. Landlord or even other tenant who started fire is not responsible for protecting your stuff. Don't be cheap, get coverage. Coverage would also help you if you were displaced, by paying for a place to stay.......and as for the lady who was asleep and didn't hear the alarm, OMFG. Whatever. Get your own smoke alarm for $9.99 anywhere and stick it up in your apartment or lay it on the freaking coffee table. Protect yourself people instead of waiting for the gubment to do for you. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( cheqsixx ) on 08/03/2009 at 03:29 pm. Either the owners are STUPID to think they can get away with eventually burning the place down for insurance money (or to get out of the mortgage on the complex), OR

there are some juvenile-delinquents with nothing better to do over the summer than play with matches/lighters in a vacant unit while momma/daddy aren't around to watch em..... As for residents still living there, I'd get out while I was still alive. One way or another, bet the ranch another fire will happen before summer ends. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( uknownance ) on 08/03/2009 at 03:38 pm. I have an idea, remove all the animals & old people from the complex & burn the whole thing down. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( uknownance ) on 08/03/2009 at 03:43 pm. STA: I agree! Has the poor dog in your neighborhood been rescued yet? If not you should keep reporting it or do away with your neighbor... Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( mim ) on 08/03/2009 at 04:00 pm. When I saw the "Troubled" apartments, my first thought was that this was an insurance situation for financial gain. What's the "troubled" part? That it had two fires? That happens a lot. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( usfsmartie ) on 08/03/2009 at 04:01 pm. Guarunteed, the two women that "didn't hear" the alarm don't have insurance and will try to sue the owners of the complex. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( TravisBickle ) on 08/03/2009 at 04:10 pm. 'Troubled' means that you're paying for them to live there. You ALWAYS have more damage and problems when people don't share in the domestic expenses. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( slappy ) on 08/03/2009 at 04:18 pm. Old_Crusty,you sound like a normal person.You can get renters insurance at Gieco.. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( dezmen ) on 08/03/2009 at 04:55 pm. I live in the complex and yes in the past it has had very very serious problem and I have even had my share of issues but to be fair in recent months the new owners have been trying to impove things they have hired an new security staff to patrol at night etc and they are responding much more quickly to repair request weather they are of an emergency or non emergency nature. I am not trying to down anyone that lives on section 8 because there are some good people that need the help alsobut as a rule i would try to get them out of the complex as there leases come ddue and replace them with people that care about where there live and what to live by the rules and be proud of there complex. Perhaps in the mean time they need to have the security teams up there numbers. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( Old_Crusty ) on 08/03/2009 at 05:40 pm. 5:39PM, Thanks Slappy, I had renters insurance as I moved around the world. Military housing replaces their buildings but not your/my contents. I was usually in quads or duplexes and you never know what the neighbors are up to. I'm doing alright now and I'm still happy over getting fricking rid of State Farm FLORIDA in Oct

'06. ... You didn't leave a lighter at the scene did ya? Fingerprints can come back to haunt ya! ;-} Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( Old_Crusty ) on 08/03/2009 at 05:44 pm. 5:44PM, "normal person" He, he, he, chortle, snort, I CAN fool some of the people some of the time. "Normal" Oh P-L-E-A-S-E-! ;-} Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( ijarne ) on 08/04/2009 at 08:33 am. This complex needs to go! The property owner's are getting a free ride from the city's code enforcement. They should be forced to lose this property so that someone can bulldoze the whole thing! It's prime waterfront location could be a boon for a savvy developer. Great location...not far from downtown...very desirable commumity. City Code Enforement, where are you? Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( KatrinaB ) on 08/04/2009 at 08:46 am. GREED and to get paid for it too Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( TOOPRETTYforprison ) on 08/04/2009 at 03:54 pm. slappy's CLOSE. they are methheads and cookers. same as what was at georgetown in south tampa. It cracks me up that the sloppy, ignorant cookers finally BLEW UP so many DUMPS that the fire dept is forced to actually label them as suspicious or arson. That's okay, their crack arson investigator can shove it under the carpet or maybe arrest someone that the fire dept can't terrorize. Everyone with a brain knows it is meth labs exploding. AND on top of that they want this property. They've threatened to burn down our house so many times that I have had to finally file injunction charges against their criminal cohort on the block who leaves dead animals by my car and has firefighter cars parked in his driveway all day and night. So ..... yeah. Arson.Don't be arsonating my house your losers. That would be THE FIFTH ONE in our family. Which doesn't really raise eyebrows in Tampa cause they're ALL in on it. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( TOOPRETTYforprison ) on 08/04/2009 at 03:58 pm. My gosh, Jack. Nice to meet you AGAIN. Did any of the ones who are violators get notice or just dragged into court like nazi germany?? So the mingue extortion unit could go to work on them.Wow, it's SUCH a small world. I'm so glad you recoved from your car wreck. I hadn't even heard about it! Last time I aw Tony he failed to mention it. Glad you are okay and able to get on with your code enforcement and other extracurriclar activiies. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( TOOPRETTYforprison ) on 08/04/2009 at 04:08 pm. Stardog! Good catch. They are all related to arsonists.One of their relatives who is now a firefighter set a fire in my mother's oven vent and another (same family) burnt down my cousin's home in lutz and NOW LIVES IN IT. Or the brother who is NOT a sexual predator does. Anyway... of course they want to develop this property. Look where it is. AND this is how the fire dept goes about acquiring property for the city of tampa and it's sriminal leadership who all belong in JAIL. Anyone with eyes and ears

sees that we now have new york cops covering up for the new york and puerto rican gangs. And the only reason I mention they are Puerto Ricans is because they attach the colors to themselves obviously a point of pride !! AND the Irish Republican Army Tampa FL ... arrived in 1989. Selective prosecution of long term tampa residents began subsequently. Go see if you cam make the connection to HOW that happened. Their stuff DOES NOT burn down BUT you will find the IRA members living in homes all over the place in tampa with no VISIBLE means of support. And now the fire dept covers up for them and helps to terrorize residents. Math ain't that hard.Demand accontability from these people. Make them go away. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( TOOPRETTYforprison ) on 08/04/2009 at 04:17 pm. I dunno about the community being desirable. I DO KNOW that it is loaded down with firemen and their families including the guy stott?? Who shoved his wife's car out into traffic. I mean if you like white trash ... I guess it's pretty desirable. Report Inappropriate Comments Posted by ( TOOPRETTYforprison ) on 08/04/2009 at 04:19 pm. go check out beacon and all the way back down riverview... wonder how many of THOSE houses burnt down or were 'troubled' before a fireman or his family OWNED THEM????? Report Inappropriate Comments View Paginated

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