Lakefront home destroyed in blaze

By CHRIS PORTER • Daily Tribune Staff

MARBLE FALLS - Rebecca DeShea said she and her boyfriend spent the weekend celebrating their anniversary at a NASCAR race near Dallas.

After a fire Monday at their Marble Falls home, she says they’ll be marking a different anniversary.

The couple’s lakefront home just off CR 415 south of the city was destroyed in the blaze shortly before noon Monday, which officials believe began as a small electrical fire.

“I smelled something electrical, and I went to find out where the smell was coming from,” DeShea said. “I looked outside and saw gray smoke coming from the garage.”

DeShea said the home’s garage, situated at a lower level, shared space with an office and a workbench.

“I went down there, and I saw a fire on the workbench. I ran upstairs and got my keys so I could move my car.”

Firefighters arrived a short time later to find the three bedroom, all-wooden structure completely engulfed by fire.

“The origin was definitely in the garage on the lower level,” said Chief Terry White of the Marble Falls Volunteer Fire Department. “It had a particular type of foundation that caused a wind to blow underneath the house.”

White said the added wind helped the fire quickly spread through the entire structure.

The lack of nearby hydrants also hindered fire crews’ efforts, though White said his team was successful in keeping the blaze confined to the structure.

“We had to refill our tankers at a hydrant down the road, but it was certainly better than not having a hydrant for 12 miles around,” White said.

The Marble Falls volunteers quickly called for backup from volunteer fire departments in Granite Shoals, Cottonwood Shores and Spicewood, he added.

DeShea said she and Gregorczyk are looking for a silver lining in the destruction.

“All I have is what I have on,” she said. “I lost things like my grandmother’s quilt and our pictures. But we do have a lot of friends and very good neighbors. We’re all like a big family out here.”

Several neighbors had already stopped by to offer help before the blaze was even extinguished, she added.

“My boyfriend and I said this is like a whole new beginning,” DeShea said. “This is just something that you always see happening to someone, but it never happens to you.”

chris@thepicayune.com

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Lakefront home destroyed in blaze