Fire victim dies, community raises funds for family

Angel Coffman did not survive her injuries in a house fire Wednesday, and her family is concentrating on the well-being of her young son, who was also injured, and her husband, also named Angel, who is stationed at Fort Bliss.

“We still don’t know who was brave and went in the house to get her son out, but he’s a hero,” her aunt, Marisol Reyes, said. “We will still have a little something of her here on earth. His name is Christopher Angel Diaz. He will be so loved.”

A GoFundMe account has been set up for the family.

The oldest of four children, Angel Coffman, 19, was born in Mesa and grew up mostly in Queen Creek and Stanfield before the family moved to Maricopa in 2007. She met her future husband at Sequoia Pathway Academy while they were still students.

“Angel was a smart, energetic, fun-loving person,” Reyes said. “She had a contagious laugh and beautiful smile.”

She graduated a year early to get married and have her son Christopher, who will turn 2 on Oct. 15. Angel would have been 20 in November. Her husband was setting up a home for them at Fort Bliss while Angel stayed in the Tortosa home of her parents, Lupe and Brandon Coffman. Reyes said she was very supportive of her husband’s dream to be in the U.S. Army.

“This weekend, she was going to pack all her belongings and move to Fort Bliss, where they had stationed her husband,” Reyes said. “She was excited to have her perfect little family.”

The house fire was reported on Nina Street at around 10:10 a.m. Wednesday. Neighbors apparently rescued two teens and Christopher from the inferno by the time fire units arrived. Firefighters brought Angel out of the house, reporting she had critical injuries from the fire.

“We don’t know what happened exactly, and it hurts that we won’t ever possibly, but we do know she put up a fight,” Reyes said.

Community outreach has been swift. It is not the first time the Coffman family has received such support from Maricopa in terrible circumstances. Her father was paralyzed three years ago in a motorcycle accident.

Besides taking a precious life, Wednesday’s fire also destroyed most of the family’s belongings, including Brandon’s medical supplies.