Bottled water saves church from fire
June 05, 2009
Susan Cordova is crediting a singed and melted case of bottled drinking water for saving the San Francisco Xavier Mission Chapel in Jarales from burning down.
The case of bottled water next to the electrical panel.
On Sunday night, a gold Nissan Infinity traveling north on Jarales Road in front of the Catholic church swerved off the road and wrapped itself around a power pole, crushing the car and scattering debris.
Efren Chavez-Mendoza, the driver, was critically injured in the wreck and airlifted from the Jarales Fire Station to the University of New Mexico Hospital. The Valencia County Sheriff’s Department Incident Report alleges the possible cause as “excessive speed” and a driver “under the influence of alcohol.”
The car Chavez-Mendoza was driving.
The power pole that caught the car had a line with a direct connection to the church’s main electrical panel.
Cordova, one of the church’s mayordomos (or caretakers), has for some time left several of the church’s lights on as a security precaution after someone broke into the church and stole two gold chalises late last year.
When the car hit the pole, an electrical surge shot through the line into the church, exploding one light bulb, sizzling wires, melting light bulb sockets and blowing a black hole in the metal front cover of the electrical panel. Sparks from the panel explosion rained down on decorative linoleum covering a wood cabinet that holds the church’s holy vestments.
A case of bottled drinking water placed in front of the electrical panel stopped the fire, Cordova said.
“We had courtesy water in the church, you know, for when the priest or people need water. The explosion arced and the water caught the explosion. It stopped the church from burning down,” she said. “That’s the only thing that saved the church. The church would’ve been burned to nothing.”
The wreck, which was heard more than a half mile away, also downed a power line and caused a power outage in the immediate vicinity.
Chavez-Mendoza’s stepson, Jorge Ramos, said his stepfather isn’t doing well, with a broken face, a swelled brain and severe heart problems.
Ramos surveys the damage and collects the debris.
Cordova has placed Chavez-Mendoza’s name on the church’s prayer list for tomorrow evening’s service, a mass that was almost cancelled because of the electrical problems throughout the church. All the lights are again working and the panel is back in order.
“We had just left that water there, you know, just in case the priest or someone needed water. Sometimes people do ask for water,” she said, pausing to think. “Kindness. What goes around comes around. I think those little acts of kindness come back to you. Little did I know it would save the church.”