APOLLO BEACH, FL -- Emergency units were sent to a bizarre house fire Tuesday afternoon where deputies say a man may have tried to set his wife on fire.
Audrey Mabrey, 26, is reported in critical condition and Christopher Hanney, 44, is listed as stable at Tampa General Hospital.
According to initial reports, a domestic dispute had broken inside the home. It's believed the husband may have doused his wife with a flammable liquid and set their home on fire on Oxford Garden Circle in Apollo Beach.
A release from the Sheriff's Office said units arrived on the scene and found a woman with burns on her clothing and her husband in the back yard.
"Up until now they've been sweet, loving. They look after their children and each other," said neighbor Freedom Griner.
Investigators believe the husband may have poured an accelerant on his wife. She ran out of the house as a school bus happened to pull up outside.
"The aid jumped off the bus to see if she could go help in any way. She said that she saw a lady come out who may have been burned," said Collette Neuman, a neighbor.
The home was heavily damaged by the blaze. The roof caved in and the garage was melted.
"The inside of this house is completely gutted," said Ray Yeakley with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
"It's so mind-blowing. I don't understand how any of this could have happened," said Freedom Griner.
According to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to the Apollo Beach home for a report of domestic violence on October 20, but no one was arrested.
Mabrey declined to press charges, saying the October 20 incident was a misunderstanding.
