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LAS CRUCES - There was something strange about the fire that destroyed a mobile home in Mesilla Park on Monday night.
Victor Gonzalez, who lived at space 54 in the Summer Wind park, had just gotten a ride to Walgreens with park manager Albert Rodriguez when Gonzalez's trailer went up in flames minutes before 9 p.m.
No criminal charges have been filed yet, but the fire is being investigated as an arson and Gonzalez was questioned Wednesday afternoon, county spokesman Jess Williams said.
Next door neighbor Korina Fielder, 18, said she'd heard two people arguing in Gonzalez's trailer about an hour before the fire started - so close she could feel the heat from her window.
But Gonzalez, who didn't have a car, she said, wasn't inside.
"It's weird, because he's always there ... I've never seen him leave," she said.
Fellow park resident Javier Melero, who has lived at Summer Wind for 12 years with his wife, said as quick as the fire started, it was over.
"The fire was coming from the window," said Melero, who was eating dinner at the time. "I see the fire and I called 911. I don't know how it started."
Firefighters responded within minutes, by which time the fire had spread to the trailer's other windows, and had the blaze out just 20 minutes from the time of his call, he estimated.
The structure was a total loss, Williams said. No suspects have been named in the fire, but Williams said park management and residents are being questioned.
"No one has
Messages left for park manager Rodriguez and County Fire Marshal Robert Monsivaiz were not returned Wednesday.
The 165-space park on 20 acres off South Main Street was the site of the 2008 murder of 30-year-old Steven Apodaca by a gang of six men who shot him after an armed robbery. The park, which is owned by a California group, has been for sale for several months.
Sun-News photographer Norm Dettlaff contributed to this article.
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462
