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Friday fire damages home, destroys memories
Published May 24, 2009
SEGUIN — A Friday blaze destroyed half of a home and a big part of one resident’s life.
Fire crews were dispatched out to the 900 block of Jefferson Avenue on Friday at 3:44 p.m. for a fire that destroyed a home and resident Larry Nelson’s valued Seguin High School yearbook collection.
Upon arrival, Seguin Fire Marshal Greg Dreiss said the house was engulfed in smoke.
“Smoke was coming from all parts of the house and attic and when I walked to the back there were flames,” he said.
Though it only took fire crew roughly half an hour to put the blaze out, Dreiss said it was long enough to do plenty of damage.
“It took probably about 20 minutes maybe 30, it wasn’t that long,” he said. “Close to 50 percent of the house was destroyed by flames and the rest has heavy smoke damage.”
Starting above one of the bedrooms in the attic, Dreiss said the fire appeared to be electrical and incidental.
Prior to arrival of the emergency workers, a resident of the home was pulled to safety from a passerby, who asked not named.
“I was down the street working and I could see the smoke,” said the man, who identified himself only an employee of The Koehler Company. “I could see the smoke in the house and myself and a woman ran back here where we could see the fire from the back. There was somebody outside and they told me someone was in there.”
Not stopping to think, good Samaritan said he ran to the back door of the house. He described the smoke being very thick and only about a foot off of the ground, forcing him to crawl to find one of the residents Lester Nelson, 85, about 10 feet from another back door.
“I tried to stay calm, it wasn’t easy but I just tried to get everybody else out that was in there,” he said. “Luckily he was close by the back door and I could actually hear him kind of groan, if I couldn’t have heard him there was no way I would have found him.”
He was not alone in his rescue efforts, the Koehler employee added.
“The city guys were helping pull him out all of the way,” he said.
But getting Neslon out and away from the house did not clear him from all the danger. A small propane tank on the back porch caught fire and exploded — but not before city crews were able to put their skills to work, the rescuer said.
“We dragged him way back here to get him away from that,” he said. “The city employees turned the propane off immediately.”
Giving kudos to the men that worked fast to prevent anymore damage or danger, Dreiss said the city employees also lent a big hand.
“City crews stopped and took care of things with the propane very quickly,” he said. “Those guys are getting pro-active and really helping out.”
As far as the rescue efforts, Dreiss said he does not encourage people to run into a burning building but he did acknowledge the heroics of the day.
“I feel like he went way above and beyond of what any citizen would do,” he said. “I feel that we should be honored that we have citizens who would do that.”
Dreiss said Nelson was transported to Guadalupe Regional Medical Center and was being kept for observation.
While Lester Nelson recovers, neighbors are doing what they can to restore the lost collection belonging to Larry Nelson, who also lives in the house.
According to neighbors, Nelson collected Seguin High School yearbooks and currently completed his collection with a 1985 edition. However, none of the books survived the fire.
The neighbors, along with local business Thunderpaws, are working together and asking area residents to help Larry rebuild his beloved collection of yearbooks.
Owners Hepzibah Hoffman-Rogers and Joy Williams said they are more than excited to help out Larry.
“It was really an awesome idea of one of our clients,” Hoffman-Rogers said. “We are asking that people donate Seguin High School year books from 1979 to current, although I think he may enjoy some prior to that.”
For every annual that replaces the one lost, a donation of $10 will go toward the “Paws in Prison” program, which pairs inmates with homeless dogs for obedience training and canine rehabilitation.
“We are offering a central location for the books to be collected and keep track of the years,” Hoffman-Rogers said. “We are so stoked that we can do this.”
Want to help?
If you have a Seguin High School yearbook to donate, call Thunderpaws at 830-379-7000.
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