Here are some of the top stories we're following for today. 3/28/18 Damian Giletto/The News Journal
Jesus Davila Jr. was busy Wednesday morning overseeing the demolition and removal of the charred storage building in Frederica where his father died on Monday.
Jesus Davila Ramos, 83, was killed in the blaze that quickly engulfed the large shed behind his house as he prepared plants for his garden, family members said.
Davila Jr. said his mother, Lydia, couldn't stand the thought of looking out her back window at what remained of the storage building and would not come out of the house until it was gone.
"It was an old building and was his place," Davila Jr. said. "He pieced it together and spent a lot of time in there. There were a lot of memories in that old building. She just didn't want to see it after the fire."
While the cause of the fire hasn't been determined by the Delaware State Fire Marshal's Office, Davila Jr. said it could have started in or near the building's wood-burning stove.
On Wednesday morning, a constant stream of people — mostly from the Frederica Volunteer Fire Company where Davila Jr. and his wife, Christine, volunteer— stopped by to offer the family condolences.
Christine said the building was a place her father-in-law would relax.
"He loved to garden and would go into his 'man cave' to work. It was like his own little greenhouse," she said. "He loved being out there."
An emergency medical technician with the Frederica Volunteer Fire Company, Christine was one of the first people on the scene of the fire, which was called in through the 911 dispatcher at around 1:30 p.m. Monday.
"Lydia (Ramos' widow) remembers Jesus yelling at her from the building to call 911 and that was the last she heard from him," she said.
In an Office of the State Fire Marshal release, Assistant Fire Marshal Michael G. Chionchio said that when the Frederica Volunteer Fire Company arrived on the scene, it found the storage building on St. Agnes Street fully engulfed.
Christine said that when she arrived about five minutes after the 911 call, she saw the flames.
"It was gone," she said. "There was not a thing we could do."
Jesus and Lydia were married for 62 years and had lived in the house on St. Agnes Street since about 1975, Christine said. They had three sons and a daughter.
"He was well-known in Frederica and was loved in this community," Christine said. "He loved gardening and baseball. He was a huge Phillies fan.
"Jesus was a very friendly man and would do anything for anybody. He loved his children and his wife. He will be missed."
The Fire Marshal's Office estimates damage to the building at around $10,000.
Chionchio said the fire remains under investigation, but that the body was positively identified by the Delaware Medical Examiner's Unit on Wednesday as Jesus Davila Ramos.
Christine said Wednesday morning in a post on the Frederica Volunteer Fire Company's official Facebook page that services for Ramos will be Saturday at Freedom Baptist Church on Market Street in Frederica.
Visitation is from noon to 1 p.m., with a short service then the burial at Barratts Chapel. She said a wake will follow iat Freedom Baptist Church.
"All are welcome to come pay their condolences and share memories," she said.
Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.