FLASH TODAY STAFF REPORT
ERATH COUNTY (May 18, 2017) – It’s been a week since a fire ripped through a home in the Cattail Creek Mobile Home Park on County Road 186, nearly killing two people inside. Investigators have closed the case, but there are few answers.
Just after 7 a.m. on Thursday, May 10, firefighters from several departments converged on Cattail Creek to a report of a trailer on fire. Upon arrival, first responders found two victims with severe burns and major damage.
According to witnesses, Alejandro Rocha, who lives nearby, woke to his neighbor’s home on fire, ran outside and broke a window to save a 15-year-old female and a male trapped inside the home. Officials at the fire said without the help of this man, the two may not have been able to escape. Both were taken via air ambulances to DFW hospitals. Erath County Fire Marshal Steve Cole said there were two other people living in the home, but they were both already gone to work when the fire broke out.
Those two victims are on the long road to recovery. Cole said the male victim was set to be released from the hospital over the weekend and the teenaged female was still receiving treatment for her injuries, but she was listed a stable according to hospital records.
The homeowner, Nina Gonzales, who was already at work when the fire broke out, told The Flash she does not have homeowners insurance and the home was completely destroyed along with two vehicles (a car and an SUV) at the residence, as well as everything inside the home.
Cole said the Texas State Fire Marshal assisted him with the investigation of the fire. And while they were able to determine the fire started in the main living room area of the trailer, the investigators were unable to determine what caused it. The listing for cause of fire was undetermined on the official report.
Be the first to comment