A fire in Falfurriasburned 300 acres and destroyed six buildings; three of them homes, according to Brooks County Judge Eric Ramos.
Two of those homes belonged to the same family.
Husband and wife Humberto Perez and Sylvia Navarro lived in one of the homes on County Road 301. Their daughter lived in a trailer behind them. Across the street, another daughter and son lived.
The family had very little time to evacuate.
“The Border Patrol and the cops told us to evacuate the scenery, because the fire was coming too fast. So, we didn’t have much time to do anything,” Perez said. “Within a few minutes, everything was in flames.”
Perez said it was about 15 minutes before their homes were on fire.
“We had no time to do anything. When we came back, everything was gone, everything we had, we just walked out with the clothes on our backs,” he said.
In the rush, Navarro grabbed the urn containing the ashes of her dead son that was located in a commemorative stone in her front yard. She said she’s grateful for that.
“We still got to save him, that was one big thing for me,” she said. “I have the rest of my children, and my grandkids, that are okay.”
Unfortunately, no one was able to grab their dogs.
“One of them didn’t make it. The other three, I don’t know, I’m still looking for them,” Navarro said.
Thanks to the Red Cross, the family is currently staying at a motel. Perez said they will start looking for an apartment soon.
“It’s not the same, it’s very sad,” he said. “It’s not the same as having your own place, coming to your own home. We’re just trying to get by, day by day”
The family said they are thankful they all escaped the fire safely, and thankful for all the help they’ve received from their community.
“We’re so grateful. Very grateful,” Navarro said.
Navarro said she has seen scammers using their names, claiming to be collecting money on their behalf, but that is not the case. She said she will be setting up an account at Greater South Texas Bank in Falfurrias to collect donations.
