We also found that El Cenizo is at risk for fire. Most houses are made of wood and built very close together. We saw three and four houses in one lot. A lot of people do their own electrical work without the help of an electrician. Many families go up North and when they're gone are victims of arson.
People smoke in their houses and keep flammable materials like paint and gas in their house.
El Cenizo is very hot and dry and it has no fire station. We think that the city council should try to make and agreement with Rio Bravo to share their fire service. We need to speak to the county about getting better fire service for El Cenizo. We need to educate people to not smoke in their houses and to keep dangerous materials in a safe place, not in their house. It might also be a good idea for the community center to offer no-smoking courses for health reasons and for better safety.