No house to come home to
Glynis Crawford Smith/The Highlander
Alene Williams surveys remains of her Granite Shoals home. She was away when fire broke out and returned Wednesday to find she had lost everything in home of 30 years.
By Glynis Crawford Smith
The Highlander
When Anna Alene Williams returned home Wednesday, May 3, after a night away, there was no home to return to.
Her house at 2601 Kings Circle Drive in Granite Shoals had been gutted.
“Everything I own burned, all my papers, even my ID cards,” she said Thursday, surveying the ruins of her house and outbuildings. “I’ve lived here 30 years and it’s all gone.
“I got help with two nights in a motel, but tomorrow I am out with no place to go,” she said.
Williams has children in and around Burnet County, but she says none have room for her and her little Chihuahua dog.
How the fire might have started is as big a mystery to Williams as how it travelled. The house looks almost untouched at first glance, but behind a thin facade of the outer wall, every inch of the interior is gutted. Two out buildings burned completely, but a travel trailer between them and the home is relatively untouched.
Williams eight-foot wooden fence served briefly as a firebreak between her place and her neighbors, but it did lay waste to the rabbit hutches in their yard.
"It's so sad, all the rabbits died," said Williams.
“The Granite Shoals Fire Department says I have to have all this demolished in 60-90 days,” she said. “That will take men and equipment and I didn’t have any insurance.”
“The Red Cross suggested we open an account for donations and we will probably do that tomorrow,” said Williams’ daughter.
Until then, a call with any leads on housing, even a recreational vehicle to put over Williams’ head can go to 512-525-9329.
