DALLAS, Texas — Arson investigators have arrested and charged a woman in Dallas after a deadly fire that burned out of control and spread quickly to several homes.
Early Saturday morning, Gary Fisher was awakened by a loud noise outside his mobile home on Lombardy Lane. He suspected all along it had something to do with a woman he says has been coming around his home despite being told she was not welcome there anymore.
“We have had trouble with her before," Fisher said.
Fisher is thankful to be alive and not surprised about the woman in trouble who investigators say admitted to setting a deadly fire. Some of his neighbors shared photos that show flames raging through his mobile home and filling it with smoke.
“The room was full of smoke," Fisher said. "I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see."
Dallas Fire-Rescue units rushed to Lombardy Lane at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Flames had already spread across six mobile homes and four vehicles. Firefighters worked to extinguish the flames over the next two hours before putting the fire out at about 8:40 a.m.
One person died in the fire, and at least four of the six mobile homes sustained fire damage. Fire personnel notified the American Red Cross to assist at least 14 people impacted by the fire. Fisher had to get out of his home with just the clothes he was wearing because of the fast-moving flames.
“I got the back door open. There were no steps to go down, so I fell on the ground. Ambers were coming down on top of me," Fisher said.
Investigators have not released the name of the woman arrested and charged with arson. The fire is still under investigation. The Dallas County District Attorney will determine if there will be additional charges related to the deaths of Fisher's neighbors and the pets who died in the fire.
“My two dogs died, the neighbor’s dog died," Fisher said. "A man that was asleep on this other guy’s couch on the other side there, he did die.”
The fire scorched or melted everything in its path from this child’s basketball hoop to carport awnings.
Fisher is self-employed and relied on his truck to make money. But with his car also being burned in the fire he is left without any transportation at all.
On Saturday afternoon one of his neighbors not impacted by the fire made sandwiches for him since he had not eaten all day. Throughout the afternoon, his neighbors salvaged what they could after the fire. The owner of the mobile home park brought in a generator so nearby residents would have access to electricity.
Despite all of Fisher's belongings outside and inside his mobile home being destroyed or severely damaged by the fire, he went back inside to retrieve one more item he considers most important.
“My son’s ashes," Fisher said. "My son who died and passed away. I was able to get his ashes. That’s a steel urn they put his ashes in. It wasn’t going to melt that."
By Saturday early evening, Fisher noticed that he was having trouble breathing. The same neighbor who prepared food for him also took him to the emergency room to get checked out by a doctor.
Fisher said it is uncomfortable to ask for help, but he has made a GoFundMe page in the hopes someone might donate a few dollars.
"I never really asked for help," he said. "You know I’ve always made it through somehow. This one, I think she’s got me, this one...you can only take so much."
Anyone wishing to donate to Fisher's GoFundMe can do so here.
