By Adriana M. Chávez
The El Paso Times
EL PASO, Texas — Residents of a working-class neighborhood in Northeast El Paso were in absolute shock Friday after a fire raced through a home, killing a woman and her grandson.
The woman’s husband suffered second-degree burns, and two other grandchildren suffered severe smoke inhalation.
The victims who died, ages 55 and 9, were two of five family members who became trapped in their home in the 10100 block of Wolverine early Friday morning. The boy died after being airlifted to the Timothy J. Harnar Burn Center in Lubbock with his 50-year-old grandfather, who suffered burns to his hands and feet.
The 55-year-old woman died while she was being flown to the burn center from Beaumont Army Medical Center.
Also injured were a 14-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl. They remained at University Medical Center of El Paso on life support, said Inspector John Concha, El Paso Fire Department spokesman.
Concha said doctors treating the 14- and 10-year-olds determined that the children were “too unstable to transport.”
Officials didn’t release the names of the victims Friday. Concha said officials were working on positively identifying them.
Firefighters responded to the blaze just before 1:30 a.m. and found the house engulfed in flames.
The family were still inside as flames poured out of the front of the home off Quail Avenue in the Parkland High School area.
The fire was so large that 64 firefighters, five ambulances and 24 firefighting vehicles were dispatched. Containing the blaze took 20 minutes, Concha said.
The house was blackened inside and was still smoldering hours after the fire was extinguished. Window security bars remained in the front yard after firefighters ripped them down to fight the fire.
By Friday afternoon, the home’s broken windows had been covered with boards.
Concha said investigators were trying to determine the cause of the fire, which apparently started in the living room. He said the home didn’t have smoke detectors and had security bars with quick releases on the windows.
“In one of the bedrooms, one of the windows was blocked with furniture and household items. That may have hampered the escape,” he said.
Concha said smoke inhalation can cause severe medical problems. Smoke can carry several toxic gases, including cyanide, carbon monoxide and benzine, into a person’s lungs, and inhaling hot air can burn delicate membranes that line the lungs.
“Something as simple as a small breath of hot air or smoke can put you down quick,” he said.
Concha said the fire caused about $90,000 in damage. Inspectors with the city’s building services department deemed the house unsafe.
Officials with the Ysleta Independent School District confirmed that the three children were students in the district.
Patricia Ayala, an Ysleta district spokeswoman, said the two younger children were fourth-graders at Parkland Elementary School, while the oldest child was a student at Parkland Middle.
Ayala said counselors were available at both schools to help students and staff, and administrators have discussed having fundraisers to help the family.
Concha said the children’s mother lived in Albuquerque and was traveling to El Paso on Friday to be with her two children at University Medical Center. The children’s father was at their bedside Friday afternoon, Concha said.
After school let out on Friday, several students from Parkland elementary and middle schools stopped by the home to see the damage. Neighborhood residents also drove slowly by the charred house, some with tears in their eyes.
While neighbors and students identified the child victims and television outlets reported those names, the El Paso Times has chosen not the publish them until officials have confirmed the victims’ identities.
Nicole Ortiz, 11, lives across the street from the family and is a friend of the children hurt in the fire. She said all three played basketball and the boys played football. The 10-year-old girl was also involved in cheerleading.
“They didn’t deserve this,” Nicole said as she stood in front of the home.
She described Friday as a sad day at school.
“There was a lot of people crying,” Nicole said. “Even the teachers were crying.”
Nicole said her father, Ernesto Ortiz, helped firefighters pull the children from the burning house. After the fire, Nicole said, her parents discussed a fire-escape plan in case their home was to ever catch fire.
Nicole said the children lived with their grandparents because their parents, who are divorced, both have jobs that keep them away from home for long periods.
Students and neighbors said Friday that the children’s father is in the military.
Friday’s fire was the second in 24 hours in which someone was seriously injured.
Early Thursday, a 24-year-old woman suffered burns to her hands and feet after her apartment caught fire in the 8500 block of Viscount.
Concha said the woman suffered the burns after she walked through flames to get out of the apartment. The fire apparently started in the living room, he said.
She remained hospitalized Friday at the Lubbock burn center.
“We’re waiting to talk to her to see exactly what she had in the living room to see what may have started the fire,” Concha said.
Reporter Daniel Borunda contributed to this story.
Copyright 2011 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper
All Rights Reserved