Authorities say a lightning strike likely sparked the destructive flames.
SEGUIN, Texas — A home built during the Civil War era in Seguin is caving in after it went up in flames during Monday night’s hazardous storms.
The house had weathered the test of time until Mother Nature chose how its story would end.
Over half a decade of Keith Charlson’s work to restore the 1865-built home was lost in a massive fire that sparked along Pecan Orchard Drive in Seguin.
A battalion chief out looking at the property on Wednesday said that, so far, it looks like a lightning strike was the cause of the fire.
“It was just engulfed… I could just see years,” Charlson said, referring to how much manpower was lost.
The fire tore apart the labor that had been spent restoring and refurbishing the home to its original state.
“You can see from the sky to the ground,” Charlson said, referring to the chunks of charred wall and ceiling now missing from the home. “All the way from the top to the bottom of the house.”
Its owner hoped to bring new meaning to the past this home represents. But with gallons of water that warp every inch, the home is buckling and most likely not salvageable.
“The house is squeezing in,” Charlson said. “You can feel the pieces.”
That dream is now unknown and likely lost.
“I had strict instructions not to let anyone in,” Charlson added. “So few people got to see it. Well, now everyone gets to see it I guess.”