Officials Investigate El Paso Fires
EL PASO, Texas --
Fire investigators want to know whose responsible for a string of fires in far east El Paso.
Residents in far east El Paso had a rude awakening Friday morning.
"My daughter got up to see what was going on and she saw that the tree was on fire. I just called 911 and we woke them up immediately," said resident Angela Johnson.
Charred trees are the telltale sign of what happened in the 2000 block of Sun Country over night. El Paso firefighters said someone set the palm trees on fire, and it was no accident. And investigators said this is not the first time.
"According to investigators, this is the fourth fire that they've had on the far east side and it's something that of course is very dangerous . These trees are very dry they can go up in flames like matchboxes," said Lt. Mario Hernandez.
On Friday afternoon, KFOX found burned palm leaves spread about the grass. Neighbors said their just glad the winds didn't pick up and spread the fire to their house.
"Oh I'm thankful because we were all asleep it was in the middle of the night everybody was asleep, it was good that we caught it when we did," said Johnson. Investigators are not sure who is responsible, and these trees aren't cheap; they can cost up to $500.
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