Tobyville-area house fire displaces elderly couple

FROM STAFF REPORTS

TOBYVILLE — A nighttime blaze believed to have originated in a garage destroyed the home of an elderly couple Aug. 16  in the Ancient Oaks Subdivision, according to fire officials.

The fire happened about 10 p.m. in the 100 block of Indian Blanket Trail in the subdivision off Tobyville Road (FM 1980).

“They went into the garage when they were smelling smoke. They opened the door to the garage, and they saw that the flames were in the garage already, and it had penetrated from the garage into the ceiling,” said Chief Mike Phillips of the Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department. “It then moved quickly inside the rest of the home.”

The occupants of the house — an elderly couple as well two of their grandchildren and an adult son who were visiting — got out without any injuries, Phillips said.

The Cottonwood Volunteer Fire Department, Granite Shoals Fire Rescue, the Horseshoe Bay Fire Department, Marble Falls Fire Rescue and the Spicewood Area Volunteer Fire Department assisted on the scene, which was cleared about 4 a.m. the next day.

“Water was a challenge. There’s no hydrants. Trying to get trucks from the other departments is a challenge because the other departments are a distance away,” Phillips said. “It takes awhile to get the water started with the trucks available to the fire department.”

Crews concentrated for several hours on containing the blaze with dry conditions surrounding the home on several acres.

“We were more concerned about the embers coming off the structure fire, making it across the field, catching fire and having a wildland fire,” he said.

The cause of the blaze is not considered suspicious, Phillips said. The fire is expected to be investigated by the homeowner’s insurance company.

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