One unhappy customer; Ex-firefighter says Sarasota County botched house fire.(B SECTION)

Byline: CHRISTINA E. SANCHEZ christina.sanchez@heraldtribune.com

EAST VENICE -- After serving seven years as a firefighter in Venice, Kevin Gasher understood the challenges that come with battling a house fire.

That's what made it so difficult to watch his own home burn down this month.

Not only did Gasher have the helpless feeling of a civilian kept at a distance, he said, he was also enraged over mistakes he contends Sarasota County firefighters made while extinguishing the blaze.

Gasher, who quit the Venice Fire Department in November, said he could never imagine criticizing a fellow firefighter. But he said the response to the fire that destroyed his home on Arno Road was so …