Authorities have identified the 57-year-old man who died in a mobile home fire in Santee on Monday as Vincent Bello.
Firefighters responded to a 911 call at the mobile home at the Mission Del Magnolia park on Woodside Avenue around 2:25 a.m. and found the unit engulfed in flames.
Bello’s 28-year-old son was able to escape without injury after being awakened by his father shouting his name, but Bello was unable to get out. His body was found inside the home after crews knocked down the fire.
Investigators determined the fire began in the bedroom where Bello was staying.
The exact cause of the fire is undetermined, but investigators believe it may have been ignited by the victim smoking in his room, said sheriff’s bomb-arson Detective Dan Wilson. A lighter was found in the room, he said.
Family members set up a fund to raise money to cover funeral expenses and also to assist Bello’s son, Westley.
According to the campaign, Westley Bello lost nearly everything in the fire.
His aunt, Misty Alvarez, said her nephew had used his savings to try to save his dog a few months ago after it was attacked, but the dog died. “So now he literally has nothing but a job,” she wrote.
Of the elder Bello, she wrote: “Vince was an amazing Dad Son Brother and all around person (and) He literally helped everyone he could!”
Family members were able to find some cherished possessions when they went through the rubble of the mobile home, including a photo album, framed family pictures and books that Bello had written, his daughter, Samantha, said on the GoFundMe site.
“While I will never come to peace with the loss of my father having these photos and small mementos brings a small light of happiness through this very dark season of grief,” she wrote.
