House fire leaves young girls homeless

One of three unrelated fires in different sections of Brownsville on Monday left four young girls homeless, according to a city commissioner who is soliciting donations for the children.

Brownsville fire officials confirmed there was an early morning fire that left a home at 17 Alan A. Dale St. severely damaged. They also said a fire at the Holiday Inn off of U.S. Expressway 77/83 was reported at 6 a.m. and at 2:18 p.m. a large grass fire near Palo Alto Battlefield was called in.

Brownsville Assistant Fire Chief Mario Guerrero said the residential fire left the structure severely damaged after it was reported at about 1 a.m.

"At this moment it is still being investigated to see what the cause of the fire was," he said. "I know nobody was hurt and the family did escape. I think a neighbor alerted them. They didn’t know their home was on fire."

Brownsville Fire Department Capt. Gabriel Pedraza said the department arrived at the scene within seven minutes and that the fire took about 30 minutes to bring under control.

"There was heavy fire and smoke damage to the entire property," Pedraza said. "There was one occupant who was treated on scene for smoke inhalation."

District 2 City Commissioner Jessica Tetreau Kalifa posted on Facebook that the four girls who lived in the home range in age. She said donations for the family will be accepted at Fiesta Graphics, 205 Paredes Line Road, or the Brownsville Police Deptartment Westside Community Network Center at 1763 Highway 281.

"They lost everything," she wrote. "Please if you have girls ages 6, 8, 11, 12 do some spring cleaning early and donate any clothing, jackets, blankets."

The city commissioner could not immediately be reached for further comment.

Despite the recent rain in the Rio Grande Valley, Pedraza said the grass fire near Palo Alto Battlefield covered an area of about 30 acres that bordered other federally protected lands besides the park.

"It’s a fairly large fire, so we’re getting a lot of calls on that," Pedraza said Monday afternoon. "It can be seen from the freeway."

At about 3 p.m. Palo Alto Park Superintendent Mark Spier said the fire was east of the park.

"It’s not threatening any facilities," he said. "We’re all safe and sound."

The other Monday morning fire did not result in any injuries at the Holiday Inn at 3777 N. Expressway 77, Pedraza said.

He said a malfunctioning air conditioning unit caused the ductwork and attic space directly below it to catch fire. The smoke quickly set off an alarm and the fire was controlled within 30 minutes after personnel arrived, he said.