FINLEY, Wash. — A fire that may have been started by construction workers destroyed a home belonging to a former Coos Bay family Monday afternoon in Finley, Wash.

Flames engulfed the double-wide mobile home and a second trailer shortly after 5 p.m. Salvador Sandoval said he just purchased the property in a move to the Tri-Cities from Coos Bay.

“We just put all our things into the trailer three days ago, and were going to fix up the mobile home before moving in,” said Sandoval, an unemployed drywall installer.

“We lost all our pictures and movies of the children. There were a lot of memories there. My wife and daughter have been crying. But at least we are alive,” he said.

The couple has a son, 17, and daughters, ages 15, 5 and 2.

Sandoval said he did not have homeowner’s insurance to cover the loss.

Two men Sandoval hired were working on the air conditioning system when the fire started.

A neighbor, Michael Pounds, said he reported the fire, then grabbed a bucket and ran to the source of smoke to help douse the flames.

“It was on the side of the house in the grass, but there was no water so I couldn’t do much,” Pounds said.

The two men who were working on the air conditioning system tried briefly to put out the fire, but ended up leaving, Pounds said.

Dry grass and weeds allowed flames to quickly surround the mobile home and its addition, flaring into a hot blaze within a few minutes, said neighbor Sandra Gravelle.

Benton County Fire District No. 1 Capt. Jeff Ripley of District 1 said investigators would follow up on the possibility that construction work caused the fire.

Sandoval said the Chaplaincy at the Hospice was making arrangements through the American Red Cross for immediate personal needs for his family.