An explosive fire destroyed a home in Lake County. The man who owned the home on SR-44 in Pine Lakes was not there. He is in jail charged with first degree murder. "The middle of the mobile home was burning real high," said Jody Winstead, an eyewitness. Winstead, the next door neighbor, has seen this before. "The walls were melting down and the flames were spreading real quickly," she added. She's lived on SR-44 in Eustis for 20 years and knew right away she and her daughter had to do something about the fire. "It got pretty close and we got pretty close to it with a garden hose trying to put it out. We were just really scared," said Janie Bivins, another witness to the fire. The mobile home they were trying to save belonged to Mark Pavlasek, who is in the Lake County jail on murder and attempted murder charges for his involvement in a brutal attack at a Mt. Dora flea market last week. Plavasek was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend's boss. Investigators in Lake County said he also tried to shoot his ex-girlfriend. It's unclear what caused his mobile home to burn to the ground. Everything inside was destroyed. Neighbors said a few puppies may have been inside, as well. "They were locked in the back bedroom and the people that were living next door to him have said they were gonna take care of them til they found homes for them," Winstead said of the puppies. The mobile home did not have power. As a result, a K-9 unit was called in to help find possible explosives that may have been responsible for the blaze.

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