Man dies in St. Petersburg mobile home fire
ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - One person died Saturday afternoon in a mobile home fire in St. Petersburg.
Firefighters said it happened at the West Gate Mobile Home Park on 46th Avenue.
Investigators said Randy Reed, 41, lived in the home with his mother and died when he was trapped by the flames.
Neighbors called 911 and tried to help get Reed out.
"All the sudden we heard this big explosion, and then glass breaking, and I turned and looked and fire started coming out," said neighbor Allie Yonkof. "We could hear him in there yelling for help, he was like 'help me, help me' and couldn't do anything."
Neighbors say the smoke was so thick, there was nothing they could do.
Officials say they found him near the bathroom. The fire likely started in one of the bedrooms.
"He had a good heart, you know. Sometimes he was a brat, haha, he was 41 but he was kinda 16, so, you know," said Randy's mother, Paula. "Randy was in his own little world all the time, he didn't have any friends, he didn't need any, all the friends he had was up here."
Paula said Randy struggled with mental health issues, and they lost touch for about a decade, but reconnected three years ago and moved in together.
Family members have created a GoFundMe to raise funds to cover the funeral expenses and repairs to the home.
The State Fire Marshall is working to figure out what sparked the fire, but said it is not suspicious.