A fire completely gutted a mobile home Monday in Abiquiú.
Abiquiú Fire Chief Paulette Jordon said no one was injured and the structure was completely destroyed.
The call came in at 2:14 p.m. from Linda Lujan. She told 911 dispatchers that her County Road 142 mobile home was on fire and the “whole house is probably lost.” She said she was washing clothes and noticed the water was very warm. She said the water heater later caught on fire.
Flames were coming out of the home’s windows, according to neighbor Edward Rayes’s statements to dispatch. Another neighbor, Vince Griego, attempted to extinguish the fire with a hose, but the hose was consumed by fire. Griego declared the home was a complete loss before fire crews arrived.
According to County Fire Marshal Jerome Sanchez, Lujan was the only occupant of the home. Following the fire she was staying in a hotel with a Red Cross voucher, he said.
Two Abiquiú fire engines arrived at the scene six minutes after the initial call went out and the El Rito Volunteer Fire Department was called to help with one additional fire engine, Jordon said.
Sanchez said an investigation showed that the water heater in the house sprung a leak, which rotted the floor underneath it over a period of time. The water heater fell through the floor of the home, where the flame inside ignited the combustible material around it.
He recommended that people check their water heaters for leaks to avoid fires similar to this one.