Texas teen hero saves 2-year-old sister from mobile home fire

A Texas teen boy saved his 2-year-old sister after flames torched their family home, and they lost everything.
According to local US news outlet WFAA, Dallas Fire-Rescue said that crews were deployed after a fire at a mobile home on Lombardy Lane, Dallas, was reported shortly before 6:30 am on Saturday, October 12. The Moreno family woke up to flames and quickly evacuated their house. 16-year-old Jonathan Moreno eventually realised that his 2-year-old sister Camila was trapped inside the house on fire.
He instantly jumped into action, went back and heroically saved her. “I knew I couldn’t forgive myself if I got out and she didn’t get out,” the Texas teen told the ABC affiliate. His father, Apolinar Moreno, consequently declared his son his hero.
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A GoFundMe campaign launched earlier this month asks for the community’s help to rebuild the Moreno Family’s home that was consumed by the tragic fire. As for what caused the terrifying incident, the fundraiser’s introductory note holds a “homeless woman” responsible for setting the family of 8’s home on fire, “leaving them with nothing and killing the family dog.”
The fundraiser further details that the “upset” suspect set the place ablaze after she was “denied use of a neighbour’s restroom.”
At the time, Apolinar Moreno was getting ready to leave for work when he first caught sight of the fire. He then grabbed his six young children and “ran out of the house barefoot… in his underwear.” Meanwhile, his wife had just returned from work after a night shift at “Jack in the box.”
The GoFundMe page adds, “Not only did they have to watch every single thing that they owned burn to the ground, but they lost their family dog to the fire as well. This unimaginable event has left the Moreno family with no possessions, no home, and deep emotional scars facing the overwhelming task of rebuilding their lives from nothing.” At the time of writing, the campaign to help the Moreno family has raised $16,140 USD of their initial $20,000 goal.
According to a statement from the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department (DFR), as reported by PEOPLE, at least four homes were decimated by the fire, which reportedly claimed the lives of one person and three pet dogs.
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The American outlet’s previous October 16 report by the American outlet shows that 38-year-old Mirsa Lopez from Texas was presumably linked to the fire incident. Officials said that the woman was arrested after she allegedly confessed to setting a house on fire, resulting in the flames spreading throughout the mobile park home, killing a man and three dogs. Other details about local authorities responding to an early October 12 morning report match the recent news about a teen boy saving his sister.
Fox 4 Dallas also obtained an arrest warrant affidavit which accuses Lopez of starting the fire at the home of one of the residents she is believed to have been in a relationship with. Just like the note under the fundraiser for the Moreno family detailing the incident, the formal document says that Lopez was upset that her supposed partner denied her entry into his house to use the bathroom. Authorities identified the homeowner as Gary Fischer.
DallasCounty.org’s jail records show that Lopez is in custody and has been charged with arson with intent to damage habitat.