5 Dead After Mobile Home Fire Near Alvin

By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON Associated Press Writer

ALVIN, Texas (AP) – An overnight fire at a run-down, rural trailer park killed a couple and their three children, investigators said Monday.

Brazoria County Fire Marshal Al Priselac said the cause of the blaze at the Ashley Oaks trailer park about 30 miles south of Houston is under investigation, but that the focus at this point is the bedroom.

The victims were a 33-year-old man, his 26-year-old wife, and their children, ages 7, 4 and 1. The two younger children were boys, but Priselac could not immediately confirm the gender of the 7-year-old.

Their names weren’t being released, Priselac said. A neighbor smelled smoke and called the fire department about midnight Sunday.

“There was a deputy that arrived on the scene just about the same time the fire department did and tried to make entry into the trailer,” Priselac said.

The deputy was unable to gain access. The mobile home appeared largely intact but sustained “internal damage,” much of it from smoke. The fire is not suspicious, he said.

Fire officials said they don’t believe the residents smoked or had a Christmas tree up. A small string of icicle lights were hanging on the trailer and another set of lights was winding through a cactus and set of shrubs, but investigators don’t believe those lights were on.

There are about 50 trailers in Ashley Oaks, a largely Hispanic community, and most homes are in disrepair. The vast majority are older and rusted, and many have one or more boarded up windows.

Trash was strewn across several yards and patios Monday. A sink basin, a couch, a bike wheel and the front quarterpanel of a car were among the items lying around. At the Ashley Oaks office, most windows were broken.

Someone had spray painted graffiti on the building as well, leaving the message “South Side Crips For Life.” Mary Ortiz, who lives in a neighboring trailer park and used to live in Ashley Oaks years ago, said there have always been fire dangers in the park.

She pointed out scrap lumber leaning against a wall. “They need to make them clean that up,” Ortiz said. “They really need to clean up this trailer park so it doesn’t happen again.”

Gloria Almendarez, her friend who also lives at the nearby trailer park, said she came to see the fire because she was heartbroken by the death of the children. “God bless them, little angels,” she said.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)