Resident: locked gate hindered firefighters’ access during mobile home fire

Caution tape surrounds melted materials and charred beams of a mobile home after a fire erupted Tuesday evening.

The fire happened on the 11700 block of Canary Palm Court in the Desert Palm Mobile Home Community in east El Paso around 5:30 p.m.

Michelle Guzman lives in the community and told ABC-7 the damage could have been less severe if it weren’t’ for a lock. “That could’ve been prevented, but they had to go around because they had no key,” said Guzman. “They had to break it down.”

Guzman said the locked gate has been a point of contention between residents and management. “I have more than 50 petitions of people being in a disagreement to a gate being closed,” Guzman said.

Despite the signatures, Debbie Alvarez, who works for the property, said many people living in Desert Palms want the gate to be locked. Alvarez cited several instances in which cars passing though from Turner to Montana narrowly missed hitting neighborhood children.

Park resident Sylvia Alamo agrees with Alvarez. She is a mother of three with one more on the way living right next to the gate. “Cars would speed and the kids come outside,” she said. “It was scary. Now, they can play out here and we don’t have to worry about cars speeding.”