Family Recovers Important Documents From Fire-Destroyed Balch Springs Home

It's been two days since a grass fire damaged more than two dozen homes in Balch Springs.

On Wednesday, the fire marshal said the number of homes considered a total loss is now 11, which is up from nine reported the day before. In all, 27 homes were affected.

"We were here watching it when the house was burning down, it's just sad because all you can really do is just sit there and watch everything get destroyed without being able to do anything about it," said Angela Quinonez, whose childhood home backs up to the field that caught fire.

Her parents, grandmother, two sisters, brother-in-law and nephew all live inside the home, Quinonez said. She said her little sister, 14, was home at the time and was able to make it out safely. Their dog, a chihuahua survived but their turtle did not.

The home no longer has a roof and everything inside is just a pile of debris.

"Pretty much nothing," said Quinonez, who is 20 years old.

But there was something they were able to get back with the help of firefighters Wednesday morning: a folder that had their passports, social security cards and other important documents.

Her father is originally from Guatemala and her mother is from Mexico. They came to the country more than two decades ago and also became citizens, documentation they were able to salvage.

"They're citizens, those are the papers that they needed because if you lose that, it's a whole process," she explained.

Mostly everything was intact, even though there was some charring of the folder and some water damage.

"At least we got to save the most important papers that we, my family, needed," she said.

Balch Springs Fire Marshal Sean Davis said the owner of the private land that backs up to the homes hired a contractor to mow the field. There was a spark that started the fire.

Neighbors have complained in the past about the height of the grass and the need for constant maintenance.

"The city was aware that the grass needed to be mowed and was working with, through the citation process, through the code enforcement process, to get compliance on getting grass mowed, so they've been dealing with this since May," said Davis.

The question many want to know is, will anyone be held responsible for what happened.

"Currently there isn't anything criminal that's going to be charged to anyone, however, there could be civil ramifications but that's going to fall back on the insurance companies," said Davis.

For now, families displaced by the fire are focused on finding a new place to call home for the time being.

There are resources for neighbors in need, click here for more details on how to help.