By CHRISTOPHER TUFFLEY
christopher.tuffley@newssun.com
SEBRING -- Shortly after a downpour at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the home of James and Jean Heilman at 1927 Robing Court was destroyed in a fire.
The Heilmans are winter residents and were out of town at the time.
According to Paul Erwin and Marge Davis, who live directly next door, they routinely park their 1985 Ford truck in the Heilman driveway when the Heilmans are away.
Davis said they had just returned from mowing lawns, had parked the truck and were heading up the walk to their house when she saw smoke coming from the vehicle.
"And then it blew," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.
Another neighbor described the explosion as a boom.
It is not know at this time what started the fire in the truck.
Davis said everything happened very quickly, with the blaze spreading to the mobile home, which had an attached front porch and a semi-enclosed carport.
The building was fully involved in minutes, a large plume of black smoke climbing into a sky which had only just cleared from the earlier thunderstorm.
The West Sebring Volunteer Fire Department, with help from Sun 'N Lake, arrived within minutes and began attacking the fire, which turned out to be stubborn, complicated by the Ford truck and another vehicle parked in the carport.
A series of loud popping explosions could be heard.
At one point flames were about 20 feet high.
As soon as the firefighters got the flames knocked down, they would flare up again.
The high humidity and heat also made the fire fighters' job more difficult. Many of the men were soaked to the skin under their heavy suits.
It took about 45 minutes to bring the fire under control, and another 20 minutes later firemen were still pouring water into what was left of the house.
The entire neighborhood turned out to watch the firefighters at work.
Frank Falango, who lives two doors away, said he had come out of his house to get something, heard the boom, and started taking pictures with his cell phone.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - www.newssun.com/0622-ct-Fire