Fortunately, no one was hurt but a father and two teenage sons living there lost everything.
Fred Chamberlain, owner, said he was asleep at about 2:30 a.m. when his 15-year-old son, Toby, came into his room and said, “Dad, I smell smoke.”
The two traced the source of the smoke to the kitchen in the rear of the home and Chamberlain said he saw a small flame behind the electric range.
Chamberlain grabbed a blanket and tried to beat out the flames but he quickly realized that was not going to work. By that time he had told Toby to run outside and get the garden hose.
Chamberlain said Toby was back with the hose in just seconds but there was not enough water pressure to do much good. Within minutes the father was telling Toby to get his 13-year-old brother, Robert, out of the house and call 911. The younger son was sleeping in a room right near the kitchen at the time.
That afternoon Chamberlain stood with friends Ernie Martinez and Mike Davila watching as firemen doused more water on the smoldering wood inside the home. Martinez and Davila had seen smoke from a nearby trash fire and they stopped by the Chamberlain home to see if the fire there had flared up again.
Sure enough, they saw smoke coming from the roof area and called the fire department back to the scene.
Assistant Fire Chief Lanny Holland, Justice of the Peace and volunteer fireman Joe Lyvers and fireman Doug Holland were at the home when this reporter arrived. Two more firemen were back at the city limits refilling a tanker truck.
Chamberlain said Martinez and Davila had helped him earlier that day to extinguish flames that started in the garage area. Davila said he had come from San Antonio to visit Chamberlain and had been impressed with his drafting room.
Now, Davila said, all that was gone.
Chamberlain said the home originally was located in Beeville. Author and historian J. Frank Dobie had the home built for his mother
Chamberlain said the home was moved to the current location on U.S. Highway 59 west of the city probably back in the 1950s.
“I thought I had a fire extinguisher,” Chamberlain said. But when he looked for it, he was unable to find it.
“I’ll have one from now on right in the kitchen,” he said. “If I’d had one, I believe I could have put it out,” he said of the fire.
Chamberlain said he was surprised how quickly the fire got out of control. He said only about seven minutes passed between the time he and Toby found the flames and when he realized he was not going to be able to put them out.
“It’s the old wood,” Chamberlain said. “You can’t drive a nail in that stuff.”
“I lost my dog Snowy,” Chamberlain said sadly. The part Labrador retriever had been outside with Chamberlain’s two other dogs when the fire broke out and when Toby first ran out to get the garden hose, the dog ran inside.
Chamberlain said he heard Snowy in the house and called to him but the dog would not come. He said he started to crawl inside and get the dog but the flames spread too quickly.
Anyone who would like to donate clothing to the family may contact Rev. Tim Stowe at Beeville Baptist Church. He has information on what sizes the family members need.
“I just want people to know,” Chamberlain said Friday afternoon. Fires happen quickly and they can get out of control in seconds. He urged everyone to acquire fire extinguishers and put them in their homes.
“They were here right away,” Chamberlain said of the Beeville Volunteer Fire Department. He could not believe volunteer firefighters would get to his home miles from the city so quickly in the wee hours of the morning.
“We tried,” Chamberlain said as he looked in disbelief at the charred walls and gaping windows of the home he loved. “We tried.”
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