One home was likely lost and another building was damaged Friday morning in a fire in a South Valley neighborhood, according to the Bernalillo County Fire Rescue.
Firefighters were dispatched to the fire around 9 a.m. and found the blaze was consuming the building, according to Lt. Robert Arguelles.
Nobody was injured in the fire, which broke out near Cerro Vista and Wilshire SW in a neighborhood just west of the Rio Grande and north of Bridge.
The building, which Arguelles described as most likely lost, was a single story with several people living inside, and may have been a triplex. He wasn’t sure how many people lived inside, and the cause of the fire is still being investigated.
While crews battled the fire, neighbors and residents spilled out on the streets, some weeping and emotional, as smoke hung in the air.
“It’s just awful,” said Kim Chavez, the mother of one of the building’s tenants, as tears streamed down her face. “This is everything they own.”
The fire broke out suddenly and spread quickly, according to one of the people who was inside and who declined to be identified. The reason the people in the home realized it was on fire was because the blaze shattered the bedroom window of one of the sleeping occupants.
“It just caught on so quick, you know? I just couldn’t (put it out),” the person said. “I couldn’t get nothing. I got my boots, … but my clothes are all in there.”
“We don’t have nowhere to stay … We’re gonna have to find somewhere,” they added.
