(PRCA media release)
BOSQUE COUNTY, Texas – Former Wrangler National Finals Rodeo contestant Chris Harris Jr., 41, died in a fire that destroyed the large building in Laguna Park in which he lived and housed his collection of classic cars, authorities confirmed March 23.
Investigators found his body March 22 in the rubble of a burned out building in Laguna Park that formerly housed a carpet business.
American Forensics in Mesquite confirmed the identity, the Bosque County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release March 23. When contacted by the ProRodeo Sports News March 26, the Bosque County Sheriff’s Office in Meridian, Texas, also confirmed Harris passed away.
The building is owned by Harris, who dabbled in antique and classic cars. Harris joined the PRCA in 1995 and qualified for the NFR in 1998-2000 and 2006-2008. He finished third in the world standings in 1998 and 2000 and placed a career-best second in the WNFR average in 1998. He had $870,953 in career earnings. The last time he earned any money during a PRCA season was 2014, when he earned $12,701.
Firefighters from more than a half-dozen departments battled the blaze March 21 in the large metal Salvage Carpet building at the intersection of State Highway 22 and FM 56 in Laguna Park.
Mike Parker, the shop foreman at Rankin Automotive, reported the fire about 11:15 a.m. (CT) March 21.
He said he saw smoke that he at first thought was from a brush fire, and then flames burst through the roof of the building and shot 15 feet into the air.
Texas Rangers and the Texas Fire Marshal’s Office are leading the investigation, assisting Bosque County authorities.
An investigator from the fire marshal’s office said the cause of the fire may never be determined.
Harris, a Fort Worth native, attended Hill College in Hillsboro before joining the PRCA. His father, Chris Harris Sr., passed away Dec. 19, 2015, at the age of 67. The elder Harris was an attorney specializing in family and business law, and served in the Texas House of Representatives for three sessions – starting in 1985 – before winning a spot in the state Senate, where he served from 1991 to 2013.
