Firefighters from several Atascosa companies battled bitter cold and a fireplace blaze that got an aggressive head start on them.
POTEET, Texas — When the heater in his home stopped working, Charlie Hale did something he hadn’t done in years.
To stave off the bitter cold, he lit a fire in his long-idle fireplace and he went to collect more firewood.
It was a costly decision, as firefighters say the unattended blaze in a rural area north of Poteet spread and destroyed the entire home and killed two dogs.
Neighbor Nancy Hale says she managed to get five dogs out of the house when she heard alarms sounding and found the home full of smoke.
“One went under the bed and one went behind the couch in there and I wasn’t able to get to them,” Nancy said, adding “When the fire marshal got here I was begging him to please let me go in and get the dogs and please help me, let me go through the window or something and he said it was too dangerous because of I guess back drafts or something.”
Nancy said 66-year-old Charlie, who used to serve as a volunteer firefighter, was left with nothing.
“Pretty much everything is gone, everything. All of his clothes, his things that he got for Christmas, his shoes and jackets and suspenders,” Nancy said, of the man who was picking through the rubble of what was left wearing a salvaged pair of house slippers and wearing a jacket a friend gave him.
While mourning the loss of the pets, Nancy said she was glad Charlie was out gathering wood and not hurt.
Nancy also had high praise for all of the dedicated fire personnel who fought the flames and the bitter cold.
“I appreciate the firefighters so much. They’re volunteers. They don’t get paid and they just worked in the cold and it’s like 28 degrees out here and they did such a good job. So I’d just like to say thank you to them!” Nancy said.
The blaze got a dangerous head start because even when the volunteers made it to the fire station in Poteet, the rural home was still nine miles away.
Of the advance of the fire, Nancy said, “It was coming through the roof, big flames and most of the middle part of the trailer of the mobile home completely collapsed.”
In a Facebook post, the Poteet firefighters said no human injuries were reported and they went on to thank fire companies from Leming, Pleasanton and Bexar County ESD 5, along with Atascosa County EMS and the Sheriff’s Office.
Nancy said they are considering a fund to help recover, but they have not established one at this time.