By Karen Gleason
Sections of tin roof, twisted by heat, and the charred remains of possessions gathered over a lifetime were all that remained this morning of the long-time home of J.D. and Vickie Manis.
Vickie Manis was injured in the blaze that destroyed her home, suffering second-degree burns on her arms and legs. She is receiving treatment and is recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center’s world-renowned burn unit in San Antonio, according to her daughter, Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Janice Manis.
Val Verde County Fire and Rescue Department Chief Jerry Rust this morning said his department was notified of the fire at the Manis home, located at 1289 Paisano Lane, at 7:09 p.m. Wednesday.
Rust said five trucks and 13 county firefighters responded to the blaze, as did one crew of firefighters from the Del Rio Fire Department.
“It was burning from one end to the other. Flames were shooting up into the sky. Even the trees around the house were burning. It was like there had been an explosion,” Rust told the 830 Times in a telephone interview.
Rust called the home “a total loss.”
Manis said her brother called her about the fire a few minutes after the fire department was notified.
Manis said her mother and father have lived in the Paisano Lane home since 1970.
“I was raised here. We were all raised here. Me and my three brothers, one of whom is now deceased; my three daughters, my nephew, my granddaughter who now lives in North Carolina,” Manis said as she surveyed the burned wreckage of her parents’ home.
Manis said Martin and Kiri Villar, who live in the area, saw the smoke from the fire and made their way to the Manises home to see if they could help.
“They live over on Bonita, and he and his wife saw the smoke and thought it was a grass fire, so they came over to see if they could help. They pulled up. They saw my mom laying right there at the front door. That gentleman ran up and picked my mom up and carried her to the fence. He saved my mom’s life,” Manis said, battling tears.
Manis said when she first drove up, she nearly panicked because she saw her mother laying on a rug and didn’t know if she was dead or alive.
She said she was only reassured when her mother began talking to her.
Manis said the fire destroyed a house structure and an adjacent mobile home she said her family lovingly referred to as a “trouse.”
On Wednesday morning, Manis, two of her daughters and her father began the task of sifting through the charred remains, occasionally pulling an salvageable object from the ashes, but finding many more items that had been lost.
Neither Manis nor Rust said they had any idea how the fire may have started.
A GoFundMe Account has been started to assist the family. If you’d like to donate, please copy and use the following link: https://gofund.me/8f378bed
