Elias Padilla can’t believe what he's looking at, as he walks through charred ashes and muddy water.
He tries wrapping his head around the reality that all of his belongings were all gone in less than 30 minutes.
"It was in a matter of an hour or half an hour that the fire consumed my two mobile homes with everything I’ve gained over the years, and now I have nothing," Padilla said.
Padilla said his first reaction was to get his family out, after making sure they were safely out of the burning home; he said he tried to go back in and save some of his belongings.
The flames were too much he said, he couldn't get close.
Padilla says he doesn’t have insurance; he couldn't afford it, which is why he was sharing electricity with the neighbor.
"My neighbor had been passing us electricity for about 3 days and well...it was bad luck and I don’t know, it just happened,” Padilla said.
Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Humberto Barrera said that’s where the problem started.
He said the neighbor was using one meter, one breaker box and one outlet powering up the neighbors mobile home, causing it to overload the circuit.
Sharing electricity is not only illegal it’s not recommended.
"With the weather the way it is and having a family they had to make a decision to be cold inside the house or take some of the electricity that there neighbor was trying to provide to help them out," Humberto Barrera said.
Padilla hopes people will help.
He says even if it’s a backpack for his daughter, any little bit will help.
If you wish to help the Padilla family you can contact the family at 956-589-2520.
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