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Hernando Today

Eight Days After The Blaze

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: May 12, 2008

LAKE LINDSEY - Danny Webb did not get his face on the front page of the local newspapers after his house incinerated into a pile of smoldering ashes.

That was OK by him.

A remote church more than 1,000 miles away donated a camper. His friends and relatives gave him and his wife food, supplies and moral support.

"All of my neighbors, they've done their share," he said with a smile. "They've been real good."

The two were in the house when the fire ignited.

A lethargic Danny grabbed his gun and stumbled toward the back of the house.

He was awakened by the sounds of a rattling door. He thought he was coming face-to-face with an intruder.

"It sounded like someone was trying to get in," Webb said. "All I heard was this loud banging."

Instead of a burglar, a bright orange glow from his back porch stopped him in his tracks.

He sprinted back to the bedroom and woke his wife, Naomi. He grabbed his wallet and she grabbed her purse. They bolted out the front door.

She made a beeline to the neighbor's house to call for help.

One of the first things to burn was the phone line that ran along the back porch. The couple could not call 911.

Webb tried to use the hose but it was no use. He watched as the flames grew bigger and bigger. The house at the corner of Lake Lindsey Road and Simmons Lake Road was destroyed.

The couple's story was overshadowed by another fire the night before.

Kit Raymond and her 18-year-old son abandoned their house after a gasoline fire spread from the carport to the rest of the house.

Raymond is a full-time volunteer with Love Your Neighbor, a local charity that provides assistance for the area's less fortunate. In an instant, a well-known crusader for the homeless was on the street herself.

The irony caught the attention of the local media.

A local fire marshal and a representative with the American Red Cross told a reporter with Hernando Today that another house in Lake Lindsey was destroyed that same weekend.

That was not all. Danny and Naomi Webb's pets - seven birds and one chow mix - died in the blaze. They owned a green, red, blue and yellow macaw and some African greys. The birds cost thousands of dollars.

They spent their money on a variety of pricey possessions, but passed on homeowners insurance.

Their furniture, music equipment and decorations all went up in flames.

No one, not even the fire marshal, knows how the fire started.

"They couldn't figure it out," Danny Webb said. "We can't figure it out either. There was nothing on that porch to get that hot."

Webb's arms, shirt and jeans were covered in black ash Sunday afternoon - seven days after the fire. He and his wife were living inside a camper parked in their backyard.

Naomi was dressed in a nightgown and a pair of flip-flops. He had on a pair of jeans and some boat shoes.

Webb, 60, said he felt no bitterness over the public support given to Raymond. When asked to give out his number, he agreed, but followed by saying, "We appreciate everything, but we're getting along pretty good now."

The Webbs will celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary next Monday.

Those who would like to make a donation are asked to call 352-754-9959.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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