House Fire Displaces Eight Family Members

Written for kvia.com by Anchor/Reporter Stephanie Valle

EL PASO, TX — Two families sharing a small home -a home built by their grandfather -must now find another place to live. A fire ripped through the house last night.

Fire crews responded to the blaze at 9312 Ramirez in the Lower Valley around 9 P.M. Wednesday night. ABC-7 cameras saw firefighters illuminating the roof area in the back of the house while smoke streamed out of a hole near the roof.

ABC-7 spoke to two residents, young girls wrapped in blankets, to find out what happened. Melodia Torres says the fire started in her grandfather’s room.

“He ran out and told us that his room was on fire,” saidTorres. “We thought that it was a little fire, so we tried to turn it off ourselves. But it was too big, so we all got out of the house.”

Fire investigators determined that the fire was due to an electrical cord that overheated. Torres said her grandfather was using an electric heater near his bed, and that it may have shorted.

The ensuing smoke and fire destroyed the home, rendering a total loss. Total damage was estimated at over $70,000.

“We lost everything we had. Our clothes, our home. Our only home we had,” Torres said.

The Red Cross is helping the eight family members find a place to stay for the next few days. After that, they will have to start over on their own.