Family Of Five Forced Out By Flames After Northeast Mobile Home Fire
A family of five is homeless after their mobile home was destroyed around 3:20 p.m. Sunday afternoon at the 6100 Block of Sun Valley.
No one was hurt in the fire, but relatives of the homeowner say it was a close call.
“My cousin was inside at the time,” said Benito Torres. “He’s paralyzed. We just built a handicap ramp for his wheelchair about 2 weeks ago. I’m just thankful to God that I was able to build that for him on time because that’s how he got out of the house.”
It took fire crews about 20 minutes to tame the flames. John Concha with the El Paso Fire Department said it would have taken 10 minutes if strong winds hadn’t been blowing through the borderland. Concha added, however, that the direction of the winds made it easier for crews to contain the fire. “it kept the heat and flames from extending to the adjacent trailers,” Concha said. “The wind moved parallel away from the trailers.”
Torres said five people lived in the mobile home, which is a total loss.
“All of a sudden (my cousin) felt this strong explosion underneath the house,” said Torres. “He came out of the room and right when he come out of the entrance of the house, he saw the whole side of the trailer engulfed in fire. He couldn’t believe it, he was in tears.”
Torres said all of his cousin’s special needs equipment was destroyed in the fire. If you’d like to help the Vegas, you can donate to an account under Evelyn Vega’s name at any Chase bank branch location. The account number is 961847738.
