Man killed in Florence mobile home fire

FLORENCE, AZ - At the Caliente, Casa de Sol senior RV Park in Florence, life can move pretty slow.

"Well, yeah, everybody moves slow," resident Joan Gardner said. "Everybody moves slow. We're all old."

Right now, the RV Park is packed with seasonal visitors, and everyone seems to get along.

"People are friendly and they are like family. They just all take care of each other and they are wonderful," she said.

The pleasant, sunny atmosphere was shattered Thursday morning when a fire broke out in lot 401, home to Al and Elsie Trunkenbolz

"People will be real upset over this," Gardner said.

The fire started around 7:30 in the morning and flames quickly consumed Al and Elsie's place.

"Unfortunately we did have a loss of life. There were two people injured in the fire, and the fire did engulf the property," Town of Florence spokesman, Jess Knudson said.

The couple, both in their upper 80's had been seasonal visitors for more than 20 years.  

Although Al didn't make it, Elsie survived, thanks to a neighbor.

"He was in just before it erupted into full-force flames, and pulled the woman out," park president, Keith Weaver said.

That neighbor didn't want to go on camera, instead choosing to make sandwiches for first responders while nursing burns to his arms.

While it's a sad day here, residents say some of them can still move fast when they have to and spirits here will recover.

"Oh, we'll bounce back ... everybody bounces back around here," Gardner said.