CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Debris and ashes now litter much of Cindy Mae Cantu’s house near Alameda Street in Corpus Christi.
She noticed the fire coming out of her attic around 8:30 a.m. yesterday after she heard a loud noise that woke her up. That’s when she made the call to the Corpus Christi Fire Department.
“I was rushing to get dressed, get my animals and myself out of the house and call 911, you know.it was kind of surreal,” Cantu said.
CCFD said the call was responded to around 9 a.m. They said they had the fire out in about ten minutes and that it was caused by an electric malfunction in the attic. They also said nowadays, they are getting more calls for similar situations.
“Due to the amount of use that our heaters and everything are getting and due to the really cold temperatures, the power going on and off,” CCFD Battalion Chief Jim DeVisser said.
DeVisser said sometimes that puts stress and breaks the electric equipment.
The house did not have any smoke detectors and CCFD said no one suffered any injuries.
Cantu said this is the second time she’s had to go through a house fire, but it still has her shaken.
“At this point I’m still trying to focus on where I’m going to stay night to night until the insurance does kick in and trying to see what kinds of things I can gather up,” Cantu said.
Cantu said there was so much smoke from the fire that she had to call C.C.F.D. again.
The Red Cross helped Cantu with money to find a place to stay but she said she had to find a place herself.
