SONORA, Texas — When Arleth Reyes went to sleep Dec. 27, she expected to wake up the next day to finish cleaning her house before the family’s trip to Mexico.
Instead, she woke up before daybreak to her brother, Abraham, telling her smoke had filled their Sonora home.
The fire destroyed the family’s roof and much of its belongings, but Arleth, her son, Angel, brothers Abraham and Anthony, sister Mia and mother Viridiana Gutierrez escaped safely.
“We just feel grateful,” Arleth said. “This is just material things - material items.”
Gutierrez said she tried to put out the fire by filling the jar of a blender with water and throwing it on the flames. Then, Anthony tried using a water hose from outside. Still the flames would not stop and the hose stopped working. The family called 9-1-1.
The children lost clothes and other personal belongings in the fire. They were able to save things such as electronics and chargers. Some of the most significant losses for the family are less tangible than the material things.
Gutierrez’s mother died in 2022. Arleth grieves the memories she and her siblings created with their grandmother in the house. Two-year-old Angel still calls the building his 'house.’ The family is now living in a hotel and plans to rent another house soon, but Arleth said Angel asks to return to his original home.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear him say ‘let’s go to our house’ when this was the thing that we had,” she said.
Juanita Perez, a friend of the family, organized a GoFundMe to help with the Gutierrez family’s recovery. As of Dec. 29, $1,030 has been donated to the account. According to a Facebook post by family friend Brenda Mungia, the family also needs appliances, furniture and clothes to replace what was lost in the fire.
