Photo Courtesy Andrew Romero: A family of eight lost everything Monday night as a fire took their home, fifth-wheel, and pickup truck. No injuries were reported.
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A family of eight “lost everything” in a Monday evening fire south of Safford that took their home, fifth-wheel trailer, and Toyota pickup truck.
The Safford Fire Department was paged at about 10:01 p.m. to the 10000 block of U.S. Highway 191 in the Artesia area and came upon a doublewide trailer fully engulfed in flames, along with the fifth wheel and truck. Firefighters were on scene until about 1:30 a.m. and managed to contain the fire to the single property. However, the home, fifth wheel, and truck were total losses.
According to Safford Fire Chief Clark Bingham, the fire started in the garage but he couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly how and believed it might have been electrical. At this time it is still undetermined.
“It started in the garage area and then spread to the home,” he said.
Bingham said everybody in the family got out of the structure without injury and no firefighters were injured while battling the blaze.
With the nearest hydrant being at Swift Trail, Thatcher Fire sent its tanker truck to provide more water at the scene.
Bingham said the American Red Cross is assisting the family with short-term help and the family has set up a GoFundMe fundraising account to help provide until their insurance kicks in. Click here to view the fundraiser.
“It is a total loss,” Bingham said. “The family lost everything . . . It’s a tragic loss, unfortunately.”
