Fire victims return

The flames needed just minutes to incinerate the Christmas tree, destroy part of the living room and displace Linda Rascon and her family. The cleanup and repair, however, took a week of hard work and several helping hands.

“Christmas is probably not going to be possible because of this,” said Rascon’s brother, Ronnie Hester, who lives with his sister and spent the past week repairing her mobile home. “But thank God nobody lost their life. Nobody was hurt, and that’s the best Christmas.”

A week ago, Rascon’s world was turned upside down when, for the second time this year, a blaze damaged her mobile home on North Big Dipper Drive in West Odessa. A fire left in the fireplace last Thursday night started a blaze that consumed much of the floor in the living room, not sparing the Christmas gifts under the tree.

“My heart went to my stomach,” Rascon said, recalling her first feeling when she came out of her room to see the flames. “It’s like in the aftermath, what do you do?”

They went to work.

And after just a week in a motel, the family moved back in the mobile home Wednesday and is looking forward to a return to normalcy.

At the time of the fire, the notion of Christmas seemed to melt away with the living room. But the family has received a number of donations in the aftermath, even a new Christmas tree. The children’s school, Murry Fly Elementary, is planning to donate presents so they will still have a Christmas, Hester said.

“People have been really, really good,” Hester said. “It’s been from the bottom of their hearts.”

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, the fire in Rascon’s mobile home is typical for this time of year. Authorities generally see an increase in accidental fires as the mercury drops.

Fire Marshal Dietra White said many of the winter fires in Odessa are due to improper use of a space heater. Greater use of decorations and candles also contribute to the increase, she said.

In Rascon’s case, the Christmas tree, which stood right next to the fireplace, was one of the first things to go. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, dollar loss per fire is three times higher and fatalities are eight times higher when a Christmas tree is the first material ignited.

White recommended taking a number of precautions to avoid fires, including keeping several feet between space heaters or fireplaces and combustible items.

“If you use your fireplace, make sure you have it inspected and cleaned if you use it periodically,” White said. “Be reasonable when you’re building those fires. Most of the fireplaces we have in our area are not designed to have a massive, roaring fire.”

Rascon and her family aren’t taking any chances with a fireplace any more. On Thursday, the culprit of the fire stood discarded outside the mobile home, still full of ashes from the night of the fire. Hester said the family plans on giving it away.

“That thing’s not going back in there,” Hester said.