Elderly man, pets die in RV house fire
EL CENTRO – A kitchen fire in the Country Life RV Park claimed the life of an unidentified man and his two dogs in the early hours of Wednesday, February 8.
The fire started at around 6 a.m. within the kitchen area of a mobile home in the Country Life RV Park in El Centro but was contained to that single residence, said Imperial County Fire Chief and Office of Emergency Services Coordinator Alfredo Estrada Jr. in an interview Thursday.
While the victim’s name was not released pending investigation, Estrada was able to share that he was an elderly gentleman in his 80s, who lived with his wife and two dogs within the residence.
Estrada said the neither the cause of death nor the cause of the fire have yet to be determined, though witness statements lead Estrada to suspect that the fire may have begun as a cooking fire.
Estrada said the wife of the victim was home at the time but was asleep in the bedroom. The victim had awoken prior to his wife and had gone to make breakfast. When the wife awoke, the house was already filled with smoke.
The wife was able to escape the residence, while a neighbor witnesses the smoke and called the fire department.
Imperial County Fire Department responded to the call initially and did receive support from both the Holtville and El Centro fire departments.
After interviewing the victim’s wife, the ICFD began to search the residence for the victim, eventually locating the remains of the victim and their dogs.
While not a cause of the fire, Estrada added that the wife confirmed there were no smoke detectors within the residence, which may have delayed notifying the residents of the danger.
“We’re trying to find out exactly what caused the fire, if it was related to cooking or not,” Estrada said. “And then obviously we have to wait to for the autopsy results to know what happened to the gentleman for sure.”
“It is always unfortunate when we lose a life, it’s really tragic,” Estrada said.