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The man’s trailer was behind a house in the 4100 block of FM 1123.
Neighbor Mary Wilson called 911 several times before volunteer fire departments from Little River-Academy, Holland and Bartlett arrived at the scene of the fire about an hour later.
Someone from 911 called her back and she gave them the address and told them the names of the owners of the house across the road, Wilson said.
“After another 30 minutes I called back to tell 911 that no firefighters had arrived,” she said. “I was told police were on the scene.”
We needed the fire department, not the police, Wilson said.
The Wilson family live at a Belton address outside the city limits. “We live directly across the road from the fire. I am so angry and so upset by this.”
Wilson made several calls Wednesday and was told that Belton could not fight fires outside the city limits. “I know they can,” Wilson said. “I have heard them go to Heidenheimer and Killeen.
“The 911 team knows at midnight that the volunteer firemen are going to be in bed. They are going to be asleep, and if they are not in bed they are at work.
“We are five minutes from the county line and Belton were never called,” Wilson said.
By the time firefighters arrived, the trailer was destroyed and the fire was nearly out, she said.
The man’s body has been taken to Dallas for an autopsy.
Steve Casey, Bell County fire marshal, said the cause of the fire was under investigation. The man’s death is under investigation by Bell County Sheriff’s Office, said J.P. David Barfield, who pronounced the man dead at 1:45 a.m. Calls to the sheriff’s office went unanswered Wednesday.