Joanna Dominguez and her two children, 1-month-old Nicole and 4-year-old Dante, were fast asleep when they were awakened to the sound of screams Monday morning. Her in-laws had seen flames in her backyard through the window.
“I grabbed my babies and just ran out,” Dominguez said. “I didn’t take anything else.”
Dominguez’s duplex on Blue Drive near 52nd Street and Andrews Highway was declared a total loss by Odessa Fire Rescue officials. The two duplexes on either side were severely damaged, said OFR Battalion Chief Quentin Dobmeier.
Dobmeier said investigators believe a grass fire spread along the fence line of the homes, onto their porches and into the attics of all three structures. It took 20 firefighters about 45 minutes to get the flames under control, he said.
No one was inside the homes when firefighters arrived and no injuries were reported, Dobmeier said.
According to a City of Odessa news release, investigators have determined the fire, which was spurred on by high winds, was arson.
Dominguez said they’ve been having problems with homeless people camping in the field behind the duplexes, but she didn’t know if any were there overnight Sunday.
Edelso Carmenates spent Sunday night in the duplex next to Dominguez’s. The trucker and two friends came to town to visit their buddy Guillermo Gonzalez and his wife, Sienay.
“I was looking out the window and I thought the smoke was dust, but Sienay walked toward the back of the house and saw the fire,” Carmenates said. “We ran out and started screaming to the neighbors ‘Fire, fire, fire, get out, get out, get out.”
Sienay Gonzalez, her mother, Yanelis Torres, stood wrapped in blankets watching the firefighters douse the fire, too distraught to talk. Carmenates said they’d lost everything.
Demontrell Taylor, who lives to the west of the Dominguez and Carmenates families, was at work when his wife, Alexis, called crying.
“I couldn’t understand what she was saying so I just left work without saying anything to anybody,” Taylor said. “When I got here I could see my house was on fire.”
He later found out Alexis woke up to a smoky house. She grabbed Ziya, 1, and Ayzlynn, 3, and ran across the street to her mother’s house.
“They’re fine. That’s all I was worried about,” Taylor said as he waited to speak with firefighters about the extent of the damages to his duplex.
Fernando Fraco, the developer who built and owns all three of the duplexes, was also relieved everyone made it out safely. He stood and watched the firefighters battle the blaze after receiving a call from his wife.
While he has insurance, Fraco fretted about his renters, many of whom probably don’t have insurance, he said.
Dobmeier said the American Red Cross has been called to assist.
