Salinas trailer fire leads to one hospitalized, ten people displaced
SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Ten people are displaced and one hospitalized after a trailer home caught on fire at Alisal Country Estate on Rider Avenue in Salinas last night.
The people who lived in the mobile home believe the fire was started by fireworks. There is surveillance video from a neighbor's house showing the moments before the home went up in flames shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday.
The displaced residents said everything was going well, until they heard a huge noise in one of the rooms and saw smoke coming out of the bathroom.
"We were all inside, some of us were sleeping others were going to eat, and suddenly all the chaos started and we reacted," said Jose Noel Cruz, one of the displaced residents. "The whole house was already on fire; we couldn't do anything."
Cruz said that moments before the fire, people were lighting up fireworks near the area. The other people who lived in the trailer said they still can't believe what happened.
"[This is] something very difficult for us because we work to earn our living every day," said Luis Miguel Hernandez, one of the displaced residents.
Hernandez said he and his roommates lost a lot of their personal things because of the fire. Now, their worry is where they are going to sleep tonight.
"Where are we going to live? How are we going to move forward right now?" said Jose Israel Hernandez, one of the displaced residents.
The American Red Cross said they're aware of what happened to the trailer home, and they're working to seek assistance for the displaced renters. The people who lived in the home said that their landlord was in Mexico when the fire started but has since returned to Salinas.
One of the people in the home suffered second-degree burn scars on his head and chest, according to Salinas Fire. He was treated at the scene and later transported to a burn unit in the Bay Area.
According to Salinas Fire, the trailer home was about 80% burned, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
