Fateful calls tell of fire

ST. PETERSBURG - McKinley Bentley moved to the small pastel house at 2244 11th St. S because he wanted to raise his children in a tight-knit neighborhood, the kind of street where everybody knows everybody else's business.

On Tuesday morning, Bentley, 38, was doing some yard work for someone across town when a neighbor called.

"Your house is on fire."

Bentley said he thought the neighbor was joking. Then another neighbor called and told him the same thing.

Bentley rushed home and saw that his house was gutted by a blaze that started in a bedroom.

"I can't even describe how I'm feeling right now," Bentley said while standing outside the remnants of his home Tuesday. "I think we'll get through it. We'll pull together."

The fire's cause is still under investigation, said Lt.


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