An elderly man lost everything in an apartment fire outside Devine this past Tuesday. It happened on a property off of Hwy 173, on PR 6626. There were three apartments, and thankfully firefighters were able to stop the fire from spreading to the other two.
“There were three people inside the apartments, but when the first gentleman noticed the fire, he notified the others and everyone got out safely,” Assistant Chief Mike Walkers said. “We believe that the cause of the fire could have possibly been a wood burning stove.”
Natalia, Lytle, and Hondo VFDs assisted Devine with the fire.
“We were going through water like crazy due to the heavy load of the fire and the high winds we were fighting,” Assistant Chief Walker said. “On average, our trucks carry about 1,000 gallons of water, and we used about 10,500 gallons in this fire. There was a lot of wood inside the building as well as just a lot of contents. I’d say on average, we might use about 5,000-6,000 in an average structure fire, so we are grateful other departments came to assist.”
“We were able to save the gentleman’s truck from burning, but he lost everything inside the apartment,” Asst. Chief Walker adds.
