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Trailer home fire claims the life of Mathis resident

Posted at 4:52 PM, Dec 14, 2023
and last updated 2023-12-15 11:33:07-05

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A trailer home fire that broke out on North Atascosa in Mathis has cost a man his life and for one Mathis resident, his brother. 

Alberto Silvas and his brother Arnold saw each other every day, but what Alberto saw on Monday, he said he could not believe. 

“When he (my neighbor) came knocking everything was burning. A friend of man tried to open the door because he used to tie it with a wire because the doorknob wouldn’t close,” Silvas said. 

The fire killed 73-year-old Arnold, who lived in the mobile home for 4 years.

Investigators and fire marshals are working to figure out what started the fire. But his family wonders if the cause was from a space heater inside the home.

Silvas thinks the cause of the fire could have been a space heater, though he doesn't know if it was electric or not.

As fire investigators work, Arnold’s brother continues to mourn. 

“I lost my wife about 3 years ago. And now this,” Silvas said. “We were brothers. We saw each other every day but after that day, I didn’t see him again."

Alberto Silvas told KRIS 6 News reporter Victoria Balderamma that he hopes to hold a benefit for his brother on Saturday to help with funeral costs.