Pasco officials have no name for fireworks store blaze victim

HOLIDAY — Pasco deputies were trying Sunday to identify a body found in a fireworks store after a blaze Saturday afternoon.

The store at 3508 U.S. 19 in Holiday was filled with fireworks when it caught fire just before 6 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. Once firefighters got the blaze under control, they found the body inside.

Pasco deputies and firefighters were still investigating the cause of the fire Sunday, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin Doll.

The victim's identity likely will not be known until after an autopsy, he said.

"We really don't have any more information," Doll said. "But he was the only person hurt in the fire."

It was not immediately clear who owned the fireworks store or if it even had a name. Painted on the side of the small white building were yellow flames and the words "boom" and "fireworks."

A phone number on the building leads to a voicemail box that was full Sunday evening.

From across the street, CVS employee Jodi Stockwell saw the store burn.

"I was outside when it happened," Stockwell said. "But we didn't know anyone was inside. A customer came in and told us that.''

In July 2007, a fireworks tent in Port Richey went up when Tony Glenn Rogers, a laborer from Tampa, lit one of the items inside. There were no serious injuries.

Rogers was sentenced in December to 3 1/2 years in prison.