Fire displaces family

Armida Carillo wanted a better home for her family. Her house on Middleground Drive in West Odessa weathered the wear and tear from a large family for more than 25 years and needed a good facelift.

Remodeling in the kitchen was already under way Sunday afternoon when a fire started that changed everything.

“Everybody was putting in a little bit,” Carrillo’s daughter, Rosa, said of the renovation. “But unfortunately it didn’t happen.”

A short in the laundry room sparked a blaze that spread quickly. By the time firefighters arrived, flames were burning through the roof and had engulfed 80 percent of the house.

The family escaped unharmed, but they lost most of their belongings, including photographs of Carrillo’s late husband, a Mexican immigrant who built the house in 1983.

“I guess it was just something we wanted to hold on to because he put so much work into it,” Rosa Carrillo said.

Now, instead of improving Carrillo’s house, her family is building her a new one. On Tuesday, the family began clearing the way for a new foundation.

Ernestina Rios, who lived in the house with her mother, watched with tears in her eyes as a bulldozer leveled the charred remnants of the house she grew up in. The family can buy new clothing and material items, but it will be harder to replace the atmosphere of the home and the memories of family gatherings and holidays, Rios said, her eyes watering.

By Tuesday afternoon, the rubble had been reduced to a concrete slab. Construction on a new house will begin within days; its completion is contingent upon the money the family can raise.

“We should have (Carrillo) into the house in a couple of months,” said Omar Brito, Carrillo’s son-in-law, an oilfield worker with experience in construction. 

The family is planning at least two fundraisers in the coming weeks. On Friday and Saturday, they will be selling plate lunches with gorditas, rice and beans for $6 each. On Jan. 1, they’ve booked five bands for a dance at Los Arcos Ballroom on West Whitney Lane. Tickets are $10.

“We’re trying to raise money to start over again,” Rosa Carrillo said.

In the meantime, the displaced family members will be staying in the area with relatives. Rosa Carrillo said the response from the community has been generous so far. The American Red Cross handled accommodations for the family for three nights and also provided them with clothing vouchers.

This will be the first Christmas in many years the family did not gather in the house on Middleground Drive. But this year, Rosa Carrillo says the family is just happy to have one another.