House damaged by fire in San Elizario

A fire rips through a home in San Elizario, Texas.The family is left to sift through the rubble.

It happened Friday afternoon on the 1500 block of Paseo Del Convento.

Firefightersbattled the blaze for more thanfour hours. There was ammunition going off in the home.

“In the morning, I was working on my small engines and I went inside the house,”said homeowner,Martin Prieto,”And I sit on the sofa for a little bit and I hear a noise.”

That noise is what caught Prieto’s attention.

“I came out and saw the flames,” he said.

Prieto knew his home was in trouble, He Told ABC-7 his home was engulfed by flameswithin 20 minutes.”I couldn’t even think, I couldn’t even pick up my hose because I was so nervous. I didn’t even know what to do,” said Prieto.

To add to the danger, ammunition he had stored, was shooting off from the extreme heat.

“It was very dangerous, we had to pull everybody back,” said El PasoFire Department investigator, Rudy Portillo.”

Portillo said since the home was made of concrete blocks, itheated uplike an oven.

Volunteer firefighters from Clint, Socorro, Fabens, Horizon City and San Elizario scrambled to help.

No one was injured in the fire.

Despite his loss, Portillo was in good spirits. “Well what can you do?” he said. “If I cry, it’s not going to help me.”

Portillo lived at the home with his wife, who wasn’t home at the time of the fire.

Fire officials told ABC-7 the home is a complete loss.

Another challenge for firefighters Friday afternoon was protecting a near by church.

It dates back to the 1700s. Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to that church and other buildings.