Woman grateful after off-duty deputy saves her father from burning mobile home
By Sarah Cervera
Click here for updates on this story
MCALLEN, Texas (KRGV) — Charred furniture, melted walls and burnt pages of high school yearbooks are all that remain of a mobile home in McAllen.
The mobile home, located south of Business 83 on 29th Street, caught on fire on Saturday night.
“It’s unbelievable to even think someone was in there when that happened,” Elizabeth Arredondo said.
Arredondo’s father, Pablo, was in the mobile home when flames consumed it. The mobile home was declared a total loss.
An off-duty deputy with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office spotted the fire while heading home. The unidentified deputy ran into the burning trailer to rescue the 60-year-old man.
When asked what she would say to the deputy who rescued her father’s life, Arredondo said “I don’t know if I would even be able to say anything, but I am very grateful.”
McAllen Fire Chief Juan Gloria said when the deputy got to the scene, he found Pablo lying on the floor in his mobile home.
“It was probably over a 1,000 degrees inside,” Gloria said. “So this officer coming in, crawling in, finding this person [and] dragging him out is something remarkable.”
Gloria said a passerby called 911 to alert firefighters. The McAllen Fire Department was at the scene in a matter of minutes, but the deputy had already pulled Pablo out of the burning home.
“In situations like this when every second counts, the quick intervention of the officer from the sheriff’s officer made a difference,” Gloria said.
The deputy was taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation. He was released the same night.
“With everything that is going on in the world, it is amazing how some people will risk their own life to help someone else,” Arredondo said.
Pablo was transported to a burn unit in San Antonio, where his daughter says he is in stable condition and is being treated for smoke inhalation and burns.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Those wanting to help the Arredondo family can do so by donating to their GoFundMe page.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
