7/16/09
One day, James Archuleta, his children and girlfriend were in Chama enjoying the July 4 fireworks show.
The next day he and his children were homeless; their Hernandez home completely destroyed by fire during the early morning hours of July 5.
Nobody was in the house at the time of the fire and there were no injuries, Archuleta and Rio Arriba County Fire Marshal Jerome Sanchez said.
Four days later, Archuleta’s girlfriend, Vida Martinez, had lost her El Duende house to a fire as well.
Archuleta suspects arson, but would not speculate on who may be responsible.
“I think it’s a pretty big coincidence,” James Archuleta said of the timing of both fires. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. We will have to move in with my mom and dad for a while.”
James Archuleta had lived in the Hernandez mobile home since 1985, he said. His 9-year-old son lost a pet fish in the fire.
“We lost everything,” James Archuleta said of the Hernandez fire. “Clothes, photo albums, everything we own. All our kids’ awards, sentimental stuff that can’t be replaced.”
The Red Cross put Archuleta and his children up in a hotel for three days, he said.
“It was hell, let me tell you,” James Archuleta’s father Joe said of waking up to see his son’s house burning.
Joe Archuleta lives next door to the burned house.
“Neighbors called and said my son’s house was on fire,” Joe Archuleta said. “There was nothing we could do. I called 911. It took 20 or 30 minutes. We had plenty of trucks once they were all here, but it was too far gone. This trailer court has been here 40 years and we’ve never had any problems.”
Agua Sana firefighters called for backup from the Chamita, La Mesilla and Abiquiú fire departments, but were unable to save the house.
“We were planning on moving into my girlfriend (Martinez)’s house once the Red Cross (hotel) vouchers ran out,” James Archuleta said.
But during the afternoon of July 8, Martinez’s house on County Road 131 in El Duende caught fire as well.
Agua Sana firefighters saved her house, though it sustained smoke and water damage.
Then, less than 24 hours later, Martinez’s house caught fire a second time, at 11:30 p.m.
The second time, the mobile home burned to the ground.
“It was fully engulfed when we got there,” Agua Sana firefighter J.R. Gutierrez said of Martinez’s home. “We were there until 4:30 a.m.”
Sanchez and state Fire Marshal Bill Farmer were on scene for the July 5 and July 9 fires, Gutierrez and James Archuleta said.
“The cause of the fires are under investigation,” Sanchez said.
He would not comment on whether the fires were related. Nobody was injured in either fire, Sanchez said.
Valley National Bank in Española is accepting donations to help the family.
“Donors should say they want the money to go to the James Archuleta Benefit Account,” Customer Service Supervisor Evangeline Martinez said.