TAMPA, FLORIDA – Terry Heddings awoke about 6 a.m. to the sounds of what he thought were children playing.

But when he went outside his West Waters Avenue apartment, he saw flames and chaos. He tried alerting his neighbors and then tried moving his car out of the way of emergency vehicles. That’s when he was attacked by a man he didn’t know.

“He said he started the fire,” Heddings said.

He said the man told him, “Are you happy now? We’re all gonna burn,” and danced in the street.

The blaze today at Baywater Apartments, 6910 W. Waters Ave., drew 60 firefighters and displaced about 16 families, said Chris Reynolds, shift commander for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.

One apartment was destroyed and others had smoke and water damage. No one was injured.

Red Cross officials were expected to help find accommodations for the displaced residents.

The man who told Heddings he started the fire was later identified as Gezaheign Awasi, 44, who was taken from the scene while handcuffed on a stretcher. He faces a charge of first-degree arson of an occupied dwelling; bail has not been set.

Awasi, a native of Ethiopia, set fire to his second-floor apartment, the sheriff’s office said, and told investigators, “I started the fire with a match. I lit the bed on fire.”

Awasi’s daughter said her father had waved goodbye from their apartment window as she left for Leto High School early today. She thought it unusual that her unemployed dad was awake so early, so she asked her mother to go back and check on him. Her mother did, but Awasi wouldn’t unlock the apartment door. Soon after, her mother saw the fire – flames were shooting from the apartment building’s windows and roof.

“I thought he was in the house burning,” the daughter said.

But her father had left the apartment.

Awasi’s wife, Tsehai Zike, said her husband is a good man who reads the Bible but recently lost his job and is being treated for depression.

“I don’t feel sorry for him,” Gemechu said, “but I feel sorry for everyone else.”

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A man described by his family as “depressed” since he lost his job was detained on suspicion of arson in a three-alarm apartment fire at 6910 W Waters Ave. last week.

Gezaheign Awasi, a 45-year-old Ethiopian immigrant, was taken from the Baywater Apartments handcuffed on a stretcher after firefighters contained the blaze.

Authorities said no one was injured.

Awasi’s wife, Tsehai Zike 39, said the family moved to the area three years ago “to make a better life,” and her husband worked at a credit company until he was laid off in March.

Zike said her husband was on medication for depression, but was a good guy. She said he enjoyed reading the Bible and singing.

“He never smoked. He never drank. He never did nothing except this thing,” she said. “I’m really sad. We came here to get a better opportunity from Africa.”

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Division Chief Chris Reynolds said 16 families were displaced in eight units. When crews arrived, there were 40- to 50-foot flames shooting through the roof.

Despite a malfunctioning hydrant and no sprinklers in the older building, the fire was out in less than an hour.

Zike said she and her 18-year-old daughter left the apartment early this morning for work and school, as usual.

As Gemechu was walking to her bus stop, she noticed her father waving from the window, and she thought it was strange for him to be awake so early. She said she called her mother to have her check on him.

When Zike got the call, she was already outside the home, getting in her car. She went back upstairs but found the door chain-locked.

Zike said her husband wouldn’t let her inside. That’s when she heard the fire alarm and called 911.

Gemechu had already run home and met her mother outside, where they both stood crying and terrified. At that point, they thought Awasi was still inside. “I thought he was in the house burning,” Gemechu said of her dad.

But neighbors said Awasi had been running around the building, screaming and wrestling with a neighbor who was trying to warn other residents of the blaze.

Neighbor Eric Cohn said he heard Awasi yelling, “Everybody’s gonna burn down. How do you like it now? Drink my blood.”

Cohn said Awasi jumped onto the hood of a car a neighbor was moving before fire trucks arrived. The two then fought.

When rescuers arrived, they immediately took Awasi into custody, said another neighbor, Jay Garcia. “I saw like five cops grab him and handcuff him,” Garcia said. He said residents were still running outside and flames were spewing out of the building’s roof.

Gemechu, Awasi’s daughter, said she and her mother didn’t see Awasi screaming or running around. She said the behavior sounded unusual for her dad. “He’s always quiet.”