CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A 73-year-old man from Mathis lost his life when the travel trailer he lived in caught fire due to a space heater.
A neighbor rushed over to assist, but it was already too late.
Mathis police provided 3NEWS with body camera footage from the first responding officer at the scene, 702 North Atascosa, around 5:30 a.m. Monday. It revealed the small travel trailer where Arnold Silvas resided was fully engulfed in flames, with Silvas trapped inside.
Albert Silvas lived in the adjacent home to his brother’s trailer and struggled to comprehend the incident.
“lost my daughter, lost my brother-in-law, and now this, all in one year,” Albert said.
Police reported finding Silvas inside the trailer, where he had lived for approximately five years behind his brother’s residence. CCFD Fire Marshal Randy Paige said that it may have been extremely difficult for the man to get out of the small travel trailer.
”It’s dark, it’s smoky, you can’t breathe, you start to panic and something as simple as finding the door handle you’ve opened everyday for however long, you can’t find it anymore,” he said.
Albert said one of the neighbors tried to save his brother, but he couldn’t get the door open.
“He came over and jarring the door till he got it open but it was too hot and it was too late to get in there,” he said.
What caused this fatal fire? 3NEWS questioned Lt. Guillermo Figueroa of the Mathis police for insights.
“I think it happened because of the cold weather and when you put things around the space heater, that can happen,” he said.
Albert said he is still in a state of shock over what has happened. He recounted growing up in a family of 15 children with his brother. Now, Albert mourns the loss of Silvas, leaving him with only two remaining brothers.
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