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PBC Fire Rescue investigating mobile home fire

Posted at 6:19 AM, Aug 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-27 18:57:18-04

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue is investigating a mobile home fire on Almond Drive in Lake Worth.

Firefighters say the 911 call came in at 1:51 a.m.

They say the people living in the mobile home made it out safely and that one person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Firefighters say the fire was fully-involved when they arrived and that it took them about 20 minutes to get the fire under control.

Homeowner Jose Buenrostro, seen in cell phone video, tried with all his might to knock down the fire.

"I took a hose and started putting a lot of water but the fire was already too hard," explained Jose.

Lisa Villages, who was sleeping inside, later captured the video with her phone.

"The flames it freaked me out because I've never been in a situation where I panic like that," said Lisa. "I woke up to my sheets burning. I see the flames they was really high and oh my God, my bed's on fire!"

Jose jumped into action to save the five other people staying in his home, including a small child.

"I screamed the mobile home is on fire!" Jose recalled.

As the fire intensified, Jose grabbed the one thing he worked a lifetime to earn: his American passport. It was tucked away in a sock in his dresser.

He walked from the hospital wearing socks. His furniture, belongings and memories are now charred. All that's left is a shell of a mobile home. The mango tree he grew for years is the only thing standing. 

"I feel very, very bad," said Jose. "I'm homeless. I don't have nothing now."

The Red Cross is offering assistance to the people displaced by the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.