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TAMPA - Sometimes the rain comes down in sheets or buckets. Sometimes it comes down cats and dogs.
For Vicki Morris on her daily walk Monday night, the rain came down stinking of kerosene.
She had trouble breathing. Her skin and scalp burned, and she had to take a shower to get it off.
Tuesday morning, the 51- year-old real estate agent stood in front of her home on the corner of Aberdeen Court and Crowngate Lane in the Plantation subdivision, still experiencing the nauseating taste of what she said was jet fuel dumped on her the night before. She eyed cruising jets on their approaches to Tampa International Airport, four miles to the south.
Morris has no doubt that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time Monday night, when, she said, a low-flying jetliner dumped its fuel on her. Airport officials and federal authorities say it isn't so.
TIA spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said there was no emergency at the airport Monday night, at least none that would force a jet to dump its fuel over a neighborhood.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen looked into the matter and agreed.
``There was no emergency declared and no authorized dumping of fuel under 12,000 feet'' anywhere near Tampa International Airport, she said.
She said pilots usually dump fuel at higher altitudes and it comes out as mist, dissipating long before reaching ground. Because fuel is so expensive, pilots usually dump it in emergency situations, she said.
``If there is an emergency,'' she said, ``the goal is to get the airplane on the ground safely.''
None of that happened Monday night, at TIA or St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, Bergen said. The only aircraft that can dump fuel are airliners and corporate jets, she said. Smaller airplanes don't have that capability.
Bergen checked with controllers in the Tampa Bay area and high-altitude aircraft trackers in Jacksonville to see whether fuel was dumped from aircraft flying even higher over the area. As of late Tuesday, there was no indication fuel was dumped at high or low altitudes, she said.
Nevertheless, a whiff of kerosene remained Tuesday morning along Crowngate Lane, and a rainbow-like film coated a roadside puddle that lasted the night.
A homeowner in the neighborhood for 23 years, Morris has grown accustomed to the regular roar of overhead jets, but Monday night crossed the line, she said.
``I was ticked,'' she said. ``I couldn't believe what happened.''
Now, she's concerned about her health, the health of her dog, the health of the children in the neighborhood, the wild animals, birds and the fish in the subdivision's lakes.
It was 7:03 p.m. Monday when Morris was walking her Brussels griffon, Carson. She noticed a jet flying unusually low. A few moments later, a mist blanketed her, she said.
``It was kind of like a whoosh, and then the mist,'' she said.
The mist brought a strong smell of kerosene, an odor experts say is consistent with jet fuel.
``It was like someone had poured kerosene to start a fire,'' she said.
She ran to her home and went inside, bringing the stench with her.
``We went through three bottles of air freshener,'' she said. Still, the smell stuck with her. ``I couldn't breathe; my skin and scalp tingled.''
She felt nauseous and fought the fumes in her home until about midnight, when the smell subsided, she said.
``I don't know what this is going to do to me,'' she said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, jet fuel is a known carcinogen that causes irritation to eyes, nausea, headaches and lightheadedness. Breathing vapors for long periods of time may result in damage to lungs, blood, liver and kidneys, the agency said.
Morris' husband, Jim, retired from the Air Force, said he knows what jet fuel smells like. The odor in the neighborhood Monday night was definitely that, he said.
``I called the FAA, and they told us to write a letter to them,'' he said.
Nobody else, including the county's sheriff's or fire departments, was called.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Pamala Vazquez said her office was not notified of the incident.
``Nothing came in to us at all,'' she said. ``If somebody called us and complained, we would have gone out there and checked it out, but we got no official calls.''
Later Monday night, Vicki Morris pulled a neighbor out of her home to tell - and show - her what happened.
``If somebody walked by with a cigarette, it would have blown up,'' said Morris' neighbor, Irene Stone, who has lived on Aberdeen Court for 15 years.
Meanwhile, Vicki Morris wants answers.
``I want to make sure it doesn't happen again.''
Researchers Michael Messano and Melanie O'Bannon contributed to this report. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 865-1504.
TAMPA - Sometimes the rain comes down in sheets or buckets. Sometimes it comes down cats and dogs.
For Vicki Morris on her daily walk Monday night, the rain came down stinking of kerosene.
She had trouble breathing. Her skin and scalp burned, and she had to take a shower to get it off.
Tuesday morning, the 51- year-old real estate agent stood in front of her home on the corner of Aberdeen Court and Crowngate Lane in the Plantation subdivision, still experiencing the nauseating taste of what she said was jet fuel dumped on her the night before. She eyed cruising jets on their approaches to Tampa International Airport, four miles to the south.
Morris has no doubt that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time Monday night, when, she said, a low-flying jetliner dumped its fuel on her. Airport officials and federal authorities say it isn't so.
TIA spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said there was no emergency at the airport Monday night, at least none that would force a jet to dump its fuel over a neighborhood.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen looked into the matter and agreed.
``There was no emergency declared and no authorized dumping of fuel under 12,000 feet'' anywhere near Tampa International Airport, she said.
She said pilots usually dump fuel at higher altitudes and it comes out as mist, dissipating long before reaching ground. Because fuel is so expensive, pilots usually dump it in emergency situations, she said.
``If there is an emergency,'' she said, ``the goal is to get the airplane on the ground safely.''
None of that happened Monday night, at TIA or St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, Bergen said. The only aircraft that can dump fuel are airliners and corporate jets, she said. Smaller airplanes don't have that capability.
Bergen checked with controllers in the Tampa Bay area and high-altitude aircraft trackers in Jacksonville to see whether fuel was dumped from aircraft flying even higher over the area. As of late Tuesday, there was no indication fuel was dumped at high or low altitudes, she said.
Nevertheless, a whiff of kerosene remained Tuesday morning along Crowngate Lane, and a rainbow-like film coated a roadside puddle that lasted the night.
A homeowner in the neighborhood for 23 years, Morris has grown accustomed to the regular roar of overhead jets, but Monday night crossed the line, she said.
``I was ticked,'' she said. ``I couldn't believe what happened.''
Now, she's concerned about her health, the health of her dog, the health of the children in the neighborhood, the wild animals, birds and the fish in the subdivision's lakes.
It was 7:03 p.m. Monday when Morris was walking her Brussels griffon, Carson. She noticed a jet flying unusually low. A few moments later, a mist blanketed her, she said.
``It was kind of like a whoosh, and then the mist,'' she said.
The mist brought a strong smell of kerosene, an odor experts say is consistent with jet fuel.
``It was like someone had poured kerosene to start a fire,'' she said.
She ran to her home and went inside, bringing the stench with her.
``We went through three bottles of air freshener,'' she said. Still, the smell stuck with her. ``I couldn't breathe; my skin and scalp tingled.''
She felt nauseous and fought the fumes in her home until about midnight, when the smell subsided, she said.
``I don't know what this is going to do to me,'' she said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, jet fuel is a known carcinogen that causes irritation to eyes, nausea, headaches and lightheadedness. Breathing vapors for long periods of time may result in damage to lungs, blood, liver and kidneys, the agency said.
Morris' husband, Jim, retired from the Air Force, said he knows what jet fuel smells like. The odor in the neighborhood Monday night was definitely that, he said.
``I called the FAA, and they told us to write a letter to them,'' he said.
Nobody else, including the county's sheriff's or fire departments, was called.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Pamala Vazquez said her office was not notified of the incident.
``Nothing came in to us at all,'' she said. ``If somebody called us and complained, we would have gone out there and checked it out, but we got no official calls.''
Later Monday night, Vicki Morris pulled a neighbor out of her home to tell - and show - her what happened.
``If somebody walked by with a cigarette, it would have blown up,'' said Morris' neighbor, Irene Stone, who has lived on Aberdeen Court for 15 years.
Meanwhile, Vicki Morris wants answers.
``I want to make sure it doesn't happen again.''
Researchers Michael Messano and Melanie O'Bannon contributed to this report. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 865-1504.
