Family loses everything in deadly Atascosa County fire that killed 1

Teens saved by family members

CHARLOTTE, Texas – A mobile home fire Friday morning in Charlotte killed a man and displaced a family of five.

The fire happened in Astascosa County off Highway 97 on Laqunillas Avenue.

Two teenage girls, ages 13 and 17, woke up to flames inside their home and frantically tried to get out and also get to their 65-year-old grandfather who was calling for help.

Their uncle who lives next door, Raymond Flores, said he happened to have the day off from work. He saw the smoke and ran to help.

Flores kicked in the back door to get his 17-year-old niece out of the house. Then he and another man broke the window to save his 13-year-old niece.

“My niece was trying to come out through the side window,” Flores said. “We busted that window with the AC and pulled her out.”

Then Flores tried to save his stepfather.

“He was hurting when he called me,” Flores said.

Flores said he broke a window to his stepfather’s room and crawled in, but he couldn’t see him.

“It was as if someone turned the lights off and it went pitch black in there,” he said. “I crawled out of the window. I couldn’t breathe anymore. “

Flores said his  mother died of cancer two years ago on Friday.

“The last thing I heard him say was my mom's name,” Raymond said of his stepfather. 

The medical examiner hasn’t released the victim's name yet, but his stepchildren identified him as Enrique Bosquez.

The mother of the home, Erica Flores, said she and her husband were at work when the fire happened. Her 14-year-old daughter was at school and her two other daughters were home because they are homeschooled.

The fire destroyed everything the family owns.

Erica Flores said the family was only left with the clothes on their backs. She sad she's grateful that her two daughters were able to make it out alive.

“I’m just glad that they are OK because it could’ve been worst today,” Erica Flores said. "I mean, I could’ve been without both of my girls today, instead of my stepdad.”

The Red Cross has helped the family by providing a room for them at a nearby hotel.

Erica Flores said the family doesn’t know what they will do next because they don’t have anywhere else to go after. She said her brother who lives next door has a full house of other family members.

Erica Flores said the family was in the middle of planning their 14-year-old daughter’s quinceañera in March, and that her stepdad was excited about it and was going to pay for his granddaughter's hair styling for the big day.

Erica Flores said she is sad because she is not sure if they’ll even be able to do the quinceañera because of the fire setting them back.

The Bexar County Fire Marshal is assisting Atascosa County in finding out what caused the fire.


About the Author:

Sarah Acosta is a weekend Good Morning San Antonio anchor and a general assignments reporter at KSAT12. She joined the news team in April 2018 as a morning reporter for GMSA and is a native South Texan.