Sport fishing lodge tragedy had prior warning

AN INVESTIGATION into the death of an American during a fire in a hotel in Boca Chica, San Lorenzo, last week has sparked a storm of internet allegations including a previous warning of an impending tragedy.

Frank Lee Margrave III, 59, was trapped in his room at the Panama Sport Fishing Lodge when a fire started while a tanker truck was filling a fuel storage plant sending residents and staff rushing to safety as other storage tanks caught fire and exploded. Nearby residents also fled their homes as the flames spread and tanks continued to explode.

A second American Harold Peterson, 68, suffered first degree burns on the chest and abdomen and a suspected fractured leg.

The hotel Manager John King De La Cruz, said a sudden power outage started the fire which consumed 30 percent of the hotel. Which is the haunt of sports fishermen seeking their prey in the Bay of Chiriqui..

Fire fighters with three trucks fought the flames.
Fire Brigade Commander David Manuel de la Cruz said that the area around the lodge had lots of fuel that could have caused serious damage to the community that depends on fishing and tourism, and rapid intervention avoided a worse tragedy.
“The Fire department is investigating the cause of the fire, and why so much fuel is stored there and the Public Ministry will investigate the death of the citizen" said Commander De La Cruz. Fire Department officials said that the law does not permit the storage “of this kind of volatile combustible substance in sensitive areas with boats and homes on the periphery.”
One report said there was a tank of gas below the room of the dead victim.
A memo posted on a sports fishing web site in September, dealing primarily with the illegal catching of big fish, and keeping them out of the water for photographs, finished with this warning: “I beg the person in question to make his operation safe and to address the issues that everyone in Boca Chica knows about, before something really bad happens and someone gets really hurt or killed, I refer especially about the storage and delivery of fuel.”