Niece: 'Uncle Freddy' had a big heart

CLOVIS - Many people knew him as "Uncle Freddy," a smart, outgoing man with "a big heart," his niece told The News last week.

Alfred Tacorante, 50, was pulled dead from the site of a structure fire July 14. The fire resulted in Tacorante's mother, 71-year old Mary Delgado, being hospitalized on breathing support.

Clovis Police Chief Doug Ford told The News that a determination as to the cause of Tacorante's death was still pending autopsy, and that fire investigators meanwhile had not yet named a cause of the fatal incident last week on the 800 block of Clovis' Wallace Street. Delgado was pulled from the structure but the fire was too intense for responders to rescue Tacorante until it had been extinguished, officials said.

Esmeralda Arias said Friday that her grandmother Delgado was still in the hospital and that funeral services for her uncle Tacorante were on hold until they had his body back from the medical examiner.

Tacorante has a son, Patrick Martinez, and "was a grandpa already," said Arias. He dabbled in cosmetology and was once a talented cook at a former restaurant in Clovis.

Tacorante was close with his mother, Delgado, who "is struggling and can't believe everything," and cries every day since the fire, Arias added.