9-Month-Old Dies In Tampa Fire

TAMPA, FL — A Wednesday evening fire that ripped through a home in the 5000 block of Marc Drive, claiming the life of a 9-month-old boy, remains under investigation by Hillsborough County authorities.

According to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, its crews were called to the home around 6:10 p.m. May 31. When they arrived on the scene, they found heavy smoke and flames coming from a mobile home. Crews were told the baby, who has not yet been identified, was still inside the home. As firefighters began an initial attack, other crew members began searching the home for the child, an email from fire rescue said.

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Searchers found the infant, the email said, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said the baby was in the care of his great-grandmother, Barbara Weidman, 67, when the fire broke out. Weidman was able to get out of the home safely. The boy’s mother, Deziray Weidman, 17, was not home at the time the fire began, the sheriff’s office wrote in an email to media.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Further information is not being released at this time.

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