Victims of Desert Shores fire mourned, cause of deadly blaze still unconfirmed
It's been three days since three people tragically lost their lives in a house fire in Desert Shores.
Friday morning, a mobile home fire killed a father, his teenage daughter, and teenage son. Flames also destroyed a total of five homes, leaving five families displaced.
Over the weekend, neighbors placed balloons and flowers at the site to remember those who died. Neighbors say it was a father, his teenage daughter, and teenage son. The coroner's office identified the father as Pedro Dominguez, 33.
The Coachella Valley Unified School District confirmed on Monday that the two teens were their students
"They were just amazing, just like all the rest of our of our students and they will definitely be missed," said Bea Gonzalez, CVUSD's coordinator of after school programs.
No word yet on what caused the blaze.
The fire happened within the Desert Shores Trailer Park near the Salton Sea in Imperial County.
The district is providing extra mental health services at the schools where students were impacted, making them available for the parents as well.
"It's not even a question of can we help? It's okay, let's come together. And let's assess and see what is needed what is number one priority," Gonzalez said.
One of the people displaced was the neighbor of the family who died.
"The community is still sad. That day it happened, nobody could sleep," said Jose Urenda, a neighbor.
CVUSD and Imperial County are working together to help the community recover, especially the families displaced.
"Make sure that we give all of them an opportunity to apply for funding, and we're gonna give them money today," said Luis Olmedo, executive director of the Civic Committee of the Imperial Valley.
Olmedo said the majority of the families in the community are field workers.
"There's a huge need for affordable housing. This wouldn't exist if there was affordable available housing," Olmedo said.
both the district and county are coordinating their efforts to figure out where help is needed the most.
"We want we want to look beyond just the fires and the unfortunate situation and try to assist the community any way that we can," Gonzalez added.
CVUSD is accepting donations for the displaced families at their headquarters in Thermal. They are asking for clothes and food.
The building is located at 87-225 Church Street in Thermal.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.
This is the second recent fire to destroy multiple homes at that mobile home park. Back in April, a fire damaged four trailers and other outdoor structures, according to our sister station, KYMA.
