Mission Valley

‘It's just a lot of anxiety': Family loses home in Mission Valley brush fire

Tina Burell's family had been living in their condo for the last nine years before it caught fire last Tuesday.

NBC Universal, Inc.

Although relatively small, the 3-acre brush fire near Fashion Valley Mall destroyed a condo that was home to a mother and her two children. NBC 7’s Dave Summers spoke to the mother about the ordeal and her family’s future.

A brush fire that burned near Fashion Valley Mall nearly a week ago was held at just 3 acres, but it was big enough to destroy the home of a mother and her two children.

Tina Burell's home is situated at the top of a ridge off Friars Road. Her family had been living in that Mission Valley condo for the last nine years before it caught fire last Tuesday.

"From one day to the next, you have nothing. You have no socks, no underwear. It's just the little things you take for granted," Burell said.

A brush fire near Fashion Valley Mall raced up the hillside towards homes, damaging one building. NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes reports on Jan. 21, 2025.

With the help of her company, Burell has been staying in a hotel while she looks for a new place to live.

"I am hoping that I can sleep again," Burell said. "I haven't really slept. It's just a lot of anxiety."

She recorded videos of the damage when she was allowed back inside to retrieve personal affects that might have been spared.

"It's destroyed," Burell said. "It smells horrible. You can hardly breathe when you walk in. There was probably 3 inches of water. There's ash. There's soot, everything. I mean, you can see the sky. The roof is burnt off."

From the burned brush, you can tell there was fire all around Burell's condominium, but there are no char marks up the wall leading to her home. The roof, however, was on fire. There is evidence of that.

Inside at the time was her 26-year-old daughter Brittany Nicholas. She says she heard an explosion, the whole condo shook and she began smelling smoke. Nicholas escaped with the family dog. Their cat did not survive.

"They said we can't go back in, that they were calling Red Cross and that it was uninhabitable," Burell said.

Other people in the complex say two utility poles caught fire and that the explosion was a nearby transformer. That may explain why the roof caught fire first.

Firefighters say they are still investigating the cause.

"Traumatic," Burell said. "You never expect it. I have been there nine years."

Burell is grateful she still has her family and a job. Figuring out the rest, however, is proving to be a distressing difficulty. She says the condo next door also sustained damage, but she's not sure how much or whether the residents are living there.

Contact Us