Eight or nine months ago, a Tampa welder talked to a man on Chipco Street about installing a quick release on his burglar bars.
"He said he wasn't ready," recalled Melton Davis, owner of Reliable Welding & Steel Supply.
On Monday, the man's house went up in flames. The iron bars trapped three people inside as good Samaritans tried in vain to free them.
For the cost of a $200 per window upgrade, the family of three might have been saved.
Instead, two died.
A third, 73-year-old Mary Jones-Bynes, clings to life at St. Joseph's Hospital.
"That makes it even more of a tragedy," Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said after being told of Davis' account. "It is safe to assume the outcome would have been different had there been a quick release on the burglar bars at the Chipco Street residence."
In almost 15 years of making and installing burglar bars in the Tampa area, Davis, 43, said he's found homeowners are reluctant to upgrade from the old unmovable bars to the safer escape bars required by fire code.
"Generally, it's the money," Davis said.
One window can cost $200 to upgrade with a quick release accessible from inside the house.
When people do make the changes, Davis said, it's because they're forced to — either because they're refinancing the house or because insurance requires it.
State fire codes and local building codes require that every sleeping room be equipped with an outside escape that can be opened from the inside without the help of a key or tool.
But enforcing that rule is tough, said Harold Scott, a city of Tampa code enforcement officer, especially if a property is in good condition and regulators have no other reason to inspect.
On Friday, at 2905 Chipco St., family members spent part of the day salvaging the charred pictures and singed furniture from the two-bedroom home that long served as a family hub.
Two hibiscus plants flanked a tidy yard that has long been lovingly tended by Jones-Bynes, a retired teacher, and her husband, Willie Bynes, 68, a retired school district employee.
Latoya Jones-Williams, the 26-year-old granddaughter who lived with them, was a source of laughter for the family.
She was graduate of Gary Adult Center who recently obtained her medical technician certification, family friend Benettye Griffin-Davis recalled as she sat outside the home Friday.
Griffin-Davis said she grew up in the East Tampa neighborhood, thinking little of the burglar bars. They offered affordable crime protection for people who can't afford a pricier electronic burglar alarm system.
Now, she can't help but see bars everywhere.
"Look around," she said, pointing at each of the houses surrounding the Jones-Bynes residence. "This is our neighborhood. Everybody has bars."
Sharon Gamache, director of high-risk outreach programs for the National Fire Protection Association, said each year there are about 20 fire-related deaths nationwide that involve the bars.
"I think people often perceive their risk to crime is greater than their risk to fire," Gamache said.
But statistics show that most fatal fires happen in low-income, high-crime neighborhoods where burglar bars are more common, she said.
In East Tampa alone, four people have died since 2003 after being trapped in fires.
Just a six-minute drive south from Chipco Street is the site of a tragic 1997 fire where four children died when their grandmother's Ybor City home caught fire and the bars blocked their rescue.
Katie Baldwin's eyes still fill with tears at the memory. Three of the children were her own.
"We didn't even think about it until it happened," she said. Now, few in the family feel comfortable even walking into homes where iron bars block windows and doors, she said.
Gamache said the most effective means of getting people to understand the dangers of the old-fashioned bars is through a combination of law, education and community outreach.
Scott, the local code enforcement officer, said aid is sometimes available to help qualified homeowners retrofit burglar bars.
And Tampa firefighters have a standing offer to help residents install and maintain their smoke detectors in cases where they can't do it themselves.
On Monday, Tampa Fire Rescue will be conducting a sweep of the neighborhood immediately surrounding the Chipco Street house in an effort to do just that. (The Chipco house also did not have a working smoke detector.)
Meanwhile, a grieving family will prepare for a funeral Tuesday at St. Paul AME Church in downtown Tampa.
Griffin-Davis urged other families to ensure their homes are safe in every way imaginable.
When told that a welder recalled talking to a man at the Chipco house about upgrading his burglar bars a few months before the fire, Griffin-Davis grew quiet.
"Oh, my God," she whispered.
Tompkins
County Sheriff's Deputy Timothy J. Rumsey was on patrol when he was sent to
check out a burglar alarm at the nearby Glenwood Pines restaurant in the early
morning.
Rumsey's fast actions led to the arrest of the suspected burglar a short while later and earned Rumsey this month's Kiwanis Club Frank G. Hammer Award, Tompkins County Sheriff Peter Meskill said.
The award ceremony was held Monday at Kendal at Ithaca, where Meskill also announced Rumsey's promotion to investigator.
According to Meskill's award recommendation letter, Rumsey was sent to the restaurant at about 2:16 a.m., where he found the entrance door window smashed and pry marks on the door and door frame. He immediately called for back up, and dispatchers sent state troopers Danielle Quill and John Clarke to the scene.
The three “searched the perimeter of the building,” the letter said, and at the southeast corner Rumsey found a man clad in shorts, T-shirt and sneakers hiding under the deck.
The man was wearing latex gloves and had a tire iron next to him, Rumsey said. The three brought the man out and found him “holding a wad of cash, which was later determined to be taken from a video game” inside the restaurant, the letter said.
The three placed the man, identified as Allen Little, 40, of Dryden, under arrest and charged him with third-degree burglary, a Class D felony, the letter said.
“Deputy Rumsey responded and was on the scene within three minutes, and his quick, professional response and thorough work led to immediate intervention and apprehension of the burglary suspect,” Meskill said in his letter.
Rumsey thanked the Kiwanis Club, the Sheriff's office and his family, and he praised Quill and Clarke after receiving the award.
“They probably should be up here with me,” Rumsey said. After the ceremony, Clarke explained that the presence of the troopers allowed them to circle the building and catch the suspect.
“Usually you don't catch them in progress,” he said. He was surprised to receive the award, he added.
“There are so many officers who do so many good things,” he said.
Little was arraigned in Ulysses Town Court, sent to Tompkins County Jail on $2,000 bail and freed a few days later by order of the court, sheriff's officials said. His case is pending grand jury action, court officials said.