VON ORMY, Texas — A family is frustrated after, they say, calls for emergency services in Von Ormy have been ignored.
In February, a woman and her two young grandchildren were killed in a horrific fire. It happened in the 100 block of Blue Lilly Drive.
Vanessa Ortega, 39, along with her grandchildren Mia Oyervides, 4, and Ezekiel Oyervides, 2, died when flames engulfed their mobile home.
“Our lives just turned around,” said Esmeralda Zapata, Ortega’s mother. “It’s never going to be the same.”
The Poteet Volunteer Fire Department, Bexar County Fire Services District 5, Jourdanton Volunteer Fire Department and Rossville Volunteer Fire Department responded.
According to the Atascosa County Fire Marshal, it took 13 minutes for the first fire truck to arrive.
However, neighbors dispute that.
Claudia Pasillas says she called 911 twice. Pasillas says it took about half an hour for crews to get there.
“At 3:30 a.m., I had to call again,” she said. “Meanwhile, some neighbors from the back were helping my husband put some sand down so it wouldn’t spread to the grass. The [dispatchers] even gave me an attitude and told me, ‘Ma’am, the firefighters are already on site.’ I said, ‘No, I am here, nobody is here yet.’”
The victim’s family and neighbors are now pushing for a fire station to be established in Von Ormy.
According to Bexar County officials, that’s up to Atascosa County.
“Von Ormy the city is in Precinct 1 in Bexar County,” said Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, who represents the precinct. “The address [where the fatal fire happened] is actually out in Atascosa County. Jurisdictional boundaries – we don’t respond unless we get a call for support.”
Zapata says Atascosa County commissioners haven't been helpful.
“It’s been really frustrating just to get to whoever I need to get to,” she said. “They keep pushing us off to other people.”
Fueled by purpose, the family is not giving up. Zapata says rural residents shouldn’t be at a disadvantage when it comes to critical services.
“I don’t want anything like that to happen to them,” said Zapata. “You see a lot of families here today, and I want to make sure they get the response that my children should have gotten.”
After this story aired, KENS 5 received new information from the Atascosa County Commissioner representing the precinct. Mark Gillespie says he also met with Mr. and Mrs. Zapata to explain the process.
“We had a nice conversation about what’s out in that area and what can possibly be done to [improve] the services, along with educating them on the fact that the county is not [in charge] of VFD’s as they are volunteers,” Gillespie said in an email. “There’s a protocol to get a fire station established. There would need to be a petition signed, with a particular number of names, and then [it would be] taken to a vote by the folks in that particular area.”
Gillespie says he assured the Zapata’s if they are willing to do the groundwork on collecting signatures and support, he would be more than happy to conduct community meetings for people to learn more about their mission.