Community Gathers To Help Family Whose Home Burned Down

A fire ripped through a home, leaving the family, who was out of town, homeless.

Officials with the fire marshal’s office are still investigating what caused the blaze, which started last Wednesday night at a home in the 1900 block of Lee Elder Drive.

The Manquero family lost everything they owned. Now some kind hearts are pulling together to help the family out.

“My heart just — it was just so sad because they mean so much to us. In this school we’re like a big family,” said Rosa Juarez, a teacher at Tierra Del Sol Elementary School.

And like a family, everyone has come together.

“Right away the community started calling — the teachers, the students wanting to see what they can do to help,” said school counselor Betty Fajarado.

Friends worried about the Manquero family, which includes six boys, two of whom are students at the school.

“You can still see the sadness in his little eyes,” Juarez said about the youngest boy.

Dozens of firefighters responded to the house fire the night before Thanksgiving.

As of right now, fire investigators said based on the evidence, the blaze appears to have been set intentionally.

Officials said they’re still questioning a person who was seen leaving the home shortly after the fire started.

More than a week after a fire ripped through the Manquero family home, the yellow tape is still blocking access to the house.

The fire damage so extensive you can actually see through the house to the other side.

“When I heard about it, I felt sad,” said Jerry Duran, who is friends with one of the boys.

“I hope they get, will be able to get a new house and clothes,” said Sarah Murillo, who is a fourth-grader at the school.

To help the family get back on its feet, friends and strangers pulled together at the school’s Sparkle Festival on Friday.

There were $3 burgers, with all the proceeds going to the family.

Student Ruben Morales donated $100 he got for his birthday, which he had been saving for an iPod Touch.

“When I heard about that and I wanted to put myself in their shoes, and I thought about it after a while and I said, ‘I don’t need this money more than them,'” said Morales.

“We want to make them feel like they’re not alone; they have us,” said Juarez.

School officials said they’ve given the two boys who go to the school clothes and supplies.

They said they’ve also raised about $2,200 from a jeans-day fundraiser.

To help the Manquero family, donations can be made at any El Paso Wells Fargo.