The Gazette-Enterprise

By Ron Maloney

ron.maloney(at)seguingazette.com

SEGUIN — A second suspicious fire in as many nights heavily damaged a historic Austin Street home Saturday night.

Seguin Fire Chief Scott MyCue said firefighters who were handing out Halloween candy at the central fire station on Austin Street looked up the street to see flames when the blaze was reported at about 8:30 p.m.

They arrived in the 900 block of North Austin seconds later to find the two-story wood frame former home of Elizabeth Erskine (Budgie) Hollamon fully in flames.

"It was a very fast-moving fire," MyCue said.

The flames were helped by the home's "balloon" framing system, which means the walls run from the ground floor sills up the two stories to a top plate just below its roof rafters, MyCue said.

Firefighters expected a long night of overhauling the fire and making sure any remaining hiddlen fire had been stomped out, MyCue said.

"It originally had wood shingles, and they're still there, overlaid with asphalt shingles," MyCue said. "There are a lot of hot spots, and we're going to be here for a while."

The fire was reported almost exactly 24 hours after another sinister fire heavily damaged a home in the 500 block of West Kingsbury Street, and within days of other recent blazes in empty or unoccupied homes.

MyCue and Seguin Fire Marshal Greg Dreiss stopped short over the weekend of saying they were looking for a serial arsonist.

All MyCue would say Saturday night was New Braunfels fire investigators have offered to help Dreiss, who is a former Comal County firefighter, with his investigation — help MyCue said he was grateful for.

"They've offered to help us before, and this time, we're accepting their offer," MyCue said. "It's sort of a task force."

Driess said he would consult with city officials before he released any more information.

Hollamon, a renowned educator and author, was a descendant of six pioneer Guadalupe County families — Hollamon, Erskine, Humphreys, Meriwether, Maney and Gordon.

She died on March 6, 2007 at age 76 in the home that burned Saturday night, which was the family residence originally built in 1850.

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