Fla. Man Hauls Trash Fire Away From House

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. – Confronted with a trash fire he could not put out, Michael Dearsman used his pickup truck to drag it away from a house full of dogs and sleeping teenagers.

Dearsman, 39, spotted the blaze Tuesday afternoon. He managed to hook the trash-filled lawn trailer to his truck with a rusty chain and pulled it away from the house.

Pasco County sheriff’s deputies said Dearsman’s quick thinking prevented “heavy damage to the two-story structure and possible loss of life.”

Deputies think the fire was intentionally set.

Dearsman and another bystander tried to put out the fire with a garden hose. Firefighters extinguished the blazing trailer in less than a minute.

“I said, “Have at it,’” Dearsman said. “‘Your hose is bigger than mine.’”