Fire inside Central Fresno mobile home leaves man injured

Vanessa Vasconcelos Image
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Fire inside Central Fresno mobile home leaves man injured
Three others were pulled to safety from the blaze after the flames ripped through a home, leaving one man hospitalized with major injuries.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An explosive fire in central Fresno has a mobile home community reeling Saturday.

Three others were pulled to safety from the blaze after the flames ripped through a home, leaving one man hospitalized with major injuries.

Charred debris and remnants of a fire are what's left of what once stood as a double wide mobile home.

Family members spent the day sifting through rubble to see what's left after an early morning fire destroyed Randy and Kelly Berrena's home.

"We're just glad everyone got out safe and the other trailers were safe," Kemmy Kent said.

Witnesses say they heard a loud explosion before the fireball erupted.

"I opened up the door, and I could feel the flames," neighbor Brenda Osburn said.

"There was a boom and initially I thought the tree came down on the trailer," Kemmy explained.

The couple's niece, Kemmy's brother and two daughters were staying with the pair.

"Then my aunt came banging on the trailer, 'help me get them out, help me,'" Kemmy said.

The six and seven-year-old girls narrowly escaped the flames and were able to unlock the door so their mom could pull her brother to safety.

"My brother is disabled and can't move on his own," Kemmy said. "So, me and my aunt struggled, but we got him out."

Occupant and maintenance man Randy Berrena was injured in the fire.

"Randy was in so much pain he couldn't talk," Osburn said.

Out of the five pets in the home, they were only able to save two. Firefighters say downed power lines made the fight difficult. It took about 20 minutes for them to knock down the flames, and by that time, some surrounding homes sustained heat damage.

Those homes stayed without power for several hours.

"Without air, these trailers get hot," Kemmy said. "So, they're going to have to leave."

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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