(Seguin) — Guadalupe County Fire officials are recapping their investigations into a pair of fires that kept area departments busy on Thursday.
Patrick Pinder, Guadalupe County fire marshal, emergency management coordinator, says the first fire occurred at 4:50 p.m. in the 400 block of Brandenburg. Pinder says a wood burning stove is to blame.
“The homeowner came home to find smoke coming out of her front door. When she opened the front door of the home, she observed a fire inside the residence in the living room area. She then began to try to get her pets out of the house. This property owner was unsuccessful in getting her pets out of the house. Unfortunately, there were three pets inside the home that did not make it. Fire crews that responded to this fire got there pretty quickly. However, they were not able to save the home and the home is going to be a total loss,” said Pinder.
Pinder says the homeowner was displaced. However, he says she did have insurance and is being assisted by the American Red Cross.
Responding to the call were Lake Dunlap, Marion and McQueeney VFD’s. Also coming in to assist were New Braunfels, Schertz and the Cibolo Fire Departments.
Pinder says it wasn’t too long after the fire on Brandenburg that fire crews were forced to pick up and do it all over again. He says not only did Schertz, Cibolo and New Braunfels have to leave to assist in last week’s large Wurstfest fire but new crews had to be called in for a second large fire in Guadalupe County.
“As our investigation was wrapping up at Brandenburg Lane, a fire was reported in the 1,000 block of Krause Lane. Fire crews responded to Krause Lane and observed a mobile home fully engulfed. That home was occupied by two people and both of the people were able to successfully get out of the home on their own. However, both of the occupants did have smoke inhalation. One was transported by Seguin EMS to GRMC where he was later taken to San Antonio and the other patient was treated and released at the scene,” said Pinder.
Pinder says this fire appears to have started with a generator on the front porch. He says he homeowner reportedly was pouring gasoline inside the generator when it “flashed on him and started that fire.”
The family of this fire in Geronimo was also displaced. They, however, did not have insurance. A current effort is reportedly underway to begin a GoFund me account to help the couple get back on its feet.
Fire crews called in for this fire included New Braunfels, Geronimo, York Creek and Seguin Fire/EMS.
Like Guadalupe County, the city of Seguin spent most of its efforts also battling a house fire on Thursday in the 300 block of West Ireland Street.
Fire Chief Dale Skinner says the fire was reported just before 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Upon arriving , Skinners says EMS were able to treat a lone occupant on the scene. No others were injured. He says the age of the home proved challenging for fire fighters who worked to control the blaze well into the night. No official cause for the fire has been released. It is believed, however, that the fire started in the front of the house maybe a living area. Providing mutual aid were McQueeney VFD, Sand Hills VFD and New Braunfels.
Following what was already a long night, officials say Seguin Fire Fighters returned the next day to assist in the second start up of a fire at the Wurstfest building in New Braunfels.