Fire kills Trini doctor, wife, son

A TRINIDADIAN doctor, his American wife and their 11-year-old son died when fire raged through their upscale Corpus Christi home in southern Texas Tuesday morning. Dr Peter Serrao, 46, his wife Heidi, 45 and son Oliver perished in the blaze, which according to investigators, remains a mystery. The couple’s daughter Alexi 10 is warded at hospital with injuries sustained when she jumped from the second floor of the house to escape the flames.

Dr Serrao, who attended Fatima College in Woodbrook, went to the United States in early 1980 to study medicine. He did his medical residency in Corpus Christi in 1985 and decided to remain in Texas. He was described as a very popular doctor among his colleagues and patients. According to fire officials, the fire started around four o’clock Tuesday morning at the family’s home at 3,800 Ocean Drive. Preliminary investigations revealed the fire might have started on the ground floor. Investigators revealed the family was asleep when the fire started. One eyewitness reported seeing Heidi and Alexi jumping from the second floor of the building. Both were rushed to the hospital, where Heidi died sometime later of massive head injuries. Fire officials said that on arrival, the garage and rear of the two-storey house were engulfed in flames. Within minutes, the fire raged through the entire house, allowing one firefighter to remark that “it looked like a gas stove with flames shooting in every direction.”

Firefighters battled the fire for several hours before it was brought under control. They were eventually able to get into the ruins where they found the charred bodies of Dr Serrao and his son Oliver. Fire investigators believe Oliver may have awakened the family and told them of the fire. It appeared that his actions led to his sister Alexi escaping the towering inferno. Reports revealed that Dr Serrao and his son Oliver died from smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and officials believe the probe could take days before it can be determined what caused the deadly blaze. Two Corpus Christi fire fighters were injured while battling the flames.

Dr Serrao was the son of Eddie and Laura Serrao. His father died on April 5 this year. Dr Serrao had two brothers and a sister — Dr Karl Serrao, Dr Christina Serrao, and Martin Serrao. A rosary service will be held tonight at the Corpus Christi Cathedral for the fire victims. The funeral service will take place on tomorrow morning at the same Cathedral, with burial following at the Seaside Memorial Park. According to Channel 6 News in Corpus Christi, Dr Serrao touched many lives since his return to the area in the mid 1980s. A report stated that when babies in South Texas were critically ill, Dr Serrao saved them, giving them a second chance as a neonatologist.

A colleague, Dr Miguel de Leon described the dead doctor as “probably one of the most brilliant physicians I have ever met — and he’s one of the most talented persons I’ve ever known. “Dr Serrao was also a very talented martial arts person with a black belt, but someone with a tender heart, who loved babies during the good times and the bad,” Dr de Leon added.