Deadly mobile home fire in Selma kills resident, cause unknown

A Selma man died Sunday after a mobile home at McCall Village Mobile Home Park on Dinuba Avenue was engulfed in flames before firefighters could stop the blaze.

Selma Fire Department crews were dispatched at about 10:30 a.m. April 12 to the park at 1701 E. Dinuba Ave., near Dinuba Avenue and Clausen Drive, and arrived to find the home fully involved. One resident died at the scene. The victim has not been publicly identified, and investigators have not released a cause.

A separate report said the victim was an elderly man and that his two dogs also died in the fire. Fire crews remained on scene for hours as investigators examined the wreckage. The city later confirmed that the call turned into a fatal structure fire and said the cause remained under investigation.

The loss carries added weight at McCall Village because it is an age-restricted 55-plus community. The park was built in 1972 and has 218 home sites, meaning many residents live in close proximity and are older adults who may have less time to escape in a fast-moving emergency. The fire now raises the practical question many Fresno County residents will ask: how vulnerable are older people in mobile homes when a blaze spreads quickly?

That concern is sharpened by the fact that fatal mobile home fires have struck the Selma area before. A 2018 fire near Selma killed three people, a grim reminder that while such deaths are uncommon, they are not unprecedented in the region.

The blaze also comes as McCall Village has been under separate strain. The City of Selma said it recently received a formal petition from the McCall Village Residents’ Organization tied to a rent increase notice at the park. For residents already focused on housing costs, the Sunday fire added another layer of anxiety and uncertainty.

For now, the most urgent questions remain basic ones: what started the fire, whether it was accidental or mechanical, and whether anything could have been done to save the resident once the mobile home was fully engulfed. Those answers are still being sought as Selma firefighters and investigators work through the remains of a tragedy that unfolded in minutes and left one local family without a loved one.