Carlos Garcia is critically injured, with over 35% burns, and faces months of recovery.
SAN ANTONIO — It is a picture of heartbreaking hurt, a close up of the bandaged and badly burned hand of 41-year-old Carlos Garcia, who family members say is still in critical condition after an explosion and fire while he slept last week.
The call for help came Friday morning just before 6.
Initially fire personnel said maybe a cigarette ignited a flash over in a gas oven, but now family members say they are being told it was a gas line explosion.
Amanda Garcia said Carlos is her brother.
“He was sleeping at the time, there was no cigarette lit, he don’t have a gas stove, his stove is electric,” Garcia said.
She added that since the fire, her brother has been intubated and unable to speak, but she said investigators told her “His gas lines ran underneath his room, and that’s the first thing that exploded, his bedroom, where he was sleeping at.”
Another relative who was sleeping in the home at the time was burned as well, but an update on her condition is not available.
Garcia said doctors are telling them her brother may be in the hospital for three to six months, with a lengthy rehabilitation period to follow.
“He’ll be here throughout all the holidays, so we’ll be spending our holidays here at the hospital with him,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the hard-working handy man needs his hands to make a living, fixing things and building small projects.
“He is burned from his head to his waist, over 35% of his body,” Garcia said, adding “His arms are pretty damaged and his hands, so he won’t be able to use those for quite a while.”
Speaking on the phone while she sat in a surgical waiting area, Garcia said “They are trying to do some skin grafts this morning to see if his skin is ready for skin grafts, but we won’t know any of that until he comes out of surgery in a couple of hours.”
Garcia said what they need most now is community support.
“Just a lot of prayers, if everybody can just pray for him and the family,” Garcia said, adding “We know that we all have to come together to help him. Get through this like a family and help him be strong.”
CPS Energy had a full crew on site immediately after the fire, looking into what happened.
We have asked for an update on their progress, and we are still waiting to hear back from arson investigators.
The city is in the process of trying to decide whether this house needs to be demolished.
When we asked for an update Wednesday, we got a response that reads they have recommended the following action: “The home was assessed, and it is recommended for emergency demolition.”
There is a fundraising effort underway for Garcia, as they say the man who has spent a lifetime fixing things now needs help with a recovery process that will be slow and arduous.