AFR responds to 2 weekend fires in Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Albuquerque fire crews had a very busy Saturday morning responding to two fires.

One of those was right off of Zuni Road and San Mateo Boulevard in an abandoned building around 9 Saturday morning.

Officials say they contained everything in about 15 minutes and they reported no injuries.

At the second fire, Albuquerque Fire Rescue crews found someone dead near the University of New Mexico, and now Albuquerque police are investigating too.

“Fire crews reported heavy smoke coming from the structure. The structure was a duplex the fire crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire,” said AFR Chief Jeff Ruscetti. 

Albuquerque fire responded to a call off of Silver Avenue and Stanford near the University of New Mexico Around 7:30 Saturday morning.

While firefighters quickly put out any fire at the residence, a discovery inside led to more questions.  

“They did however find one civilian individual male inside, he was deceased,” said Ruscetti. 

AFR found a man dead inside this home. They identified the man as 37-year-old Orcino Sarracino.

AFR could not do much to help the man after they found him.   

“We were unable to perform any life-saving measures on him,” said Ruscetti. 

In a press release later Saturday morning, police said:

“Due to the injuries on the individual, the Homicide Unit was called out to assist.”  

This incident also affected another family who lived in the duplex, according to AFR.   

“There was one other family, being that it was a duplex. They were displaced and AFR’s working with the Red Cross to find them housing for the evening or foreseeable future,” Ruscetti said. 

AFR says they don’t know how the fire started. 

“Currently, it’s just under investigation as to how the fire started,” said Ruscetti.