Family gets help regrouping after fire

A Sahuarita family was left homeless after a fire destroyed their manufactured home Sunday, but friends, neighbors and co-workers have made sure they won’t be alone as they rebuild their lives.

Dorothy and Billy Gates’ double-wide mobile home, near Sahuarita and Wilmot roads, was nearly engulfed in flames when firefighters responded just after 5 p.m. The home was a “total loss” with an estimated $100,000 in damage to the structure and its contents, according to Anne-Marie Braswell, a spokeswoman for Rural Metro Fire.

They had recently paid off the home and did not have insurance.

The Gateses, who have two children, said fire inspectors said the blaze was likely started by an electrical problem in one of the bedrooms, though the official cause is still undetermined.

Billy says he and his son were installing a water heater Sunday evening when the boy noticed smoke coming from one of the rooms of the home.

Billy called 911, but said it took several minutes for the operator to locate the residence, which is in a rural area accessed by dirt roads on the border of Sahuarita and Corona de Tucson.

He said neighbors have had problems with response times from law enforcement in the past because of confusion over jurisdiction and which agency should respond.

“9-1-1 has no idea where we’re at,” Dorothy said. “They kept him on the phone for about 10 minutes before they transferred him over to Rural Metro.”

The fire spread quickly, and “three-quarters of the trailer was in flames” by the time Billy got off the phone with emergency officials, he said. When firefighters from Rural Metro, Corona De Tucson Fire and Green Valley Fire arrived, the home was a lost cause.

Mobile homes are more likely to be destroyed by fire than traditional houses because they “burn very fast and very hot compared to a residential structure that has a foundation and may be constructed out of materials like bricks,” Braswell said.

Billy’s antique gun collection survived along with one of the boy’s stuffed animals, though everything else around it was charred. A guitar was damaged but functioning.

“The firefighters really were wonderful,” Dorothy said. “They did everything they possibly could.”

“It was gonna happen, and I’m just thankful it happened when it did. Any other time, we would have been in the house asleep or something,” she said.

Billy and Dorothy, both longtime Sahuarita residents, had lived at the home for 14 years. Billy has lived in the area since 1965, and works at Freeport McMoRan; Dorothy works at Landmark Title Assurance Agency in Green Valley. Their children, ages 12 and 14, attend Anza Trail School and Sahuarita High School.

The family said they’re amazed by the generosity of their community, which has come together planning fund-raisers and more.

Local Red Cross workers came to the Gates’ aid immediately after the fire, said Dorothy, and the local real estate community has been busy collecting money and goods for the family. A donation jar can also be found at the customer service desk at Wal-Mart in Sahuarita.

In addition, Billy’s sister has set up an account at Wells Fargo in their name.

“Our friends and neighbors have been wonderful, amazing. Everybody has been so generous, it’s almost overwhelming,” Dorothy said.

“We had one neighbor over here, the firefighters had barely put the fire out and she was already hitting all the houses in the neighborhood, trying to help us out for the night,” Billy said.

A local veterinarian is taking care of one of their kittens, who was underneath the trailer when it burned. His paws and whiskers are burned, but the cat is a “feisty little thing” and is going to be OK, Dorothy said. Neighbors who own a kennel are taking care of their dogs until they family is back on their feet.

For now, the Gates’ are staying with relatives, but they say they plan to rebuild on their land, near the people who have shown them so much kindness.

“Everything is so appreciated. People say they can’t do much, but that doesn’t matter. We’re so thankful for everything,” Dorothy said. “We don’t have a home, but we have each other. We had a hundred blessings that day.”

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726

HOW TO HELP

Donate to the Billy and Dorothy Gates Family Fund at any Wells Fargo branch.

Fundraiser for the Gates family:

Where: Greg ’n Amy’s Twist & Shout Diner, 720 W. Calle Arroya Sur, Madera Marketplace, Sahuarita

When: Aug. 25, from 5-9 p.m.; 25 percent of dinner proceeds go to the Gates family