Beloved tenant found dead in fire

HOLLYWOOD— As Bohdanna Bihun walked past her neighbor’s apartment, she said, she first noticed the blackened windows. Then she sawthe smoke.

Minutes later, the landlords of the small apartment building at 2831 Taylor St. opened the door of unitNo. 1 and began spraying the interior with a garden hose while Bihun called 911.

Firefighters were there in minutes Sunday afternoon, but itwas too late.

The resident, who Bihun and landlord Lucy Gabriel identified as James Burns, 59, was found dead on the floor.

“The smoke was pitch black, billowing,” said Bihun.

Gabriel said Burns had been her tenant for 12 years.

“He was just somebody we loved so much,” she said of the man known as Jimbo. “He was a member of the family.”

The fire began about 5 p.m., said Chris Del Campo ofHollywood FireRescue.

The cause of death is unknown, he said. Police have not indicated whether foul play is suspected.

For many years, Burns worked at Gulfstream, Calder and Hialeah race tracks as a rider hired by various stables to exercise the horses, according to David Reinshuttle, a friend of 25 years. In the afternoons, he oftenworkedas a valet in the parking lot.

But Burns’ racetrack career ended several years ago when he fell off a horse at Calder and injured his spine, Reinshuttle said. That fall led to several operations and left Burns partially disabled, he said.