Faulty electrical wiring is being blamed for a Nov. 7 fire that burned down a mobile home in San Pedro.
Maitai Garcia lived in the Private Drive 1336 home with her two children; they were able to get out of the house safely, and the fire did not threaten nearby structures.
However, by the time firefighters from La Mesilla and Española arrived on the scene, the house was engulfed in flames and spewing dark smoke.
Neighbors tried to attack it with buckets and garden hoses until emergency personnel arrived.
Garcia’s parents, Angela and Joseph Garcia, live nearby and were some of the first people on the scene.
“You could see the flames coming out from the top,” Joseph Garcia said.
Angela Garcia said she was thankful no one was hurt, but she was still upset about the loss of property.
“She just had a baby shower. Now everything’s gone,” Angela Garcia said.
Prescilla Garcia lives in the neighborhood and worried about the fire spreading before firefighters arrived.
“The thing over here is the gas lines,” she said.
Firefighters had quelled the flames within 30 minutes, though they continued to spray water into the smoking structure.
At first the Garcias believed a recent weatherization program had caused the fire; they speculated insulation wrapped around the water heater several days earlier caught a flame from the pilot light. However, the state Fire Marshal investigated and found the cause to be electrical.
Fire Marshal spokesman Paul Carbajal said the fire is believed to have been caused accidentally by electrical wiring in the attic. Angela Garcia said some electrical wiring was stapled to the structure and not up-to-code.
She said her daughter had just gotten back from work when she noticed the flame.
“As soon as she stepped out with the kids it started on fire,” she said.
Joseph Garcia said Maitai was able to get out of the building but wasn’t able to save any of her possessions. Angela Garcia said she and her husband had recently signed the home over to their daughter and she had not yet insured it.
“We are so devastated,” she said.
She said two benefit funds have been set up to help the family: one at Zia Credit Union under Maitai Garcia’s name, and one at Los Alamos National Bank under Maitai Garcia’s name.