Fourteen People Displaced by Mecca Fire

CREATED Jan. 15, 2013

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  • Fourteen people are out of their homes after a mobile home fire spread to two nearby houses. The blaze began at two Tuesday afternoon on Fifth Street in Mecca. Video by kmir6.com

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Fourteen people are out of their homes after a mobile home fire spread to two nearby houses.
The blaze began at two Tuesday afternoon on Fifth Street in Mecca.

Charred rubble is all that remains of a family's home and belongings.
Neighbor Juan Sanchez says a mother and four children lived there.
"Luckily the kids were at school and the mom was doing probably some errands, but they did lose everything they had so, that's pretty bad," said Sanchez.
When fire crews arrived, the mobile home was burning quickly.
They knocked down the fire in 40 minutes.
"The mobile home behind us, well involved with fire, it was extending into the residences on both sides of the structure," said Battalion Chief Rick Griggs with the Riverside County Fire Department.
Juan's home was one of the neighboring houses damaged.
"They called me, and my parents were here, and I was thinking that the back of our house was burning too because it was so close to the trailer," said Sanchez.
Firefighters said the close proximity of the homes did make the fire more difficult to fight.
"We were very fortunate the winds haven't picked up as they were initially forecasted for today, but they were due to pick up tonight, it could have made it much more difficult with how close these structures were together, it could have been much more damaging to the other structures on both sides," said Griggs.
So now three families are displaced, two for just a short time until power is restored.
The Red Cross is helping the other family, but they lost everything they owned.
"Hopefully someone can help them or get them back on their feet and the kids, there's no clothes, there's nothing for them to keep going on right now," said Sanchez.
The fire department is still looking into what may have caused the blaze.