Randy,
i think i have a very similar tube television to you, the Toshiba 36HFX71 (about 5-6 years old now). On occasion i have had the same problem, though it seems to occur only when the TV is already on and. It will go "poof" and then the red power light blinks like yours. Hitting the power button won't power it down, i have to physically unplug the set from the wall receptacle to remove power and then reconnect it. It always works fine after that. The problem seems to reoccur about once very 6 months or so, not often enough to even worry about getting it looked at but i have always been curious to know what the problem might be. Let me know what you find out about the set, hopefully it's an easy fix. Good luck.
