Around midnight on October 5th Sonya Fenton Preston was preparing to go to sleep and was roused by her two dogs who were very restless.
Sonya was home alone as her husband Mike “Hooter” Preston was traveling for work. Immediately afterward, Sonya heard the smoke detectors go off.
Sonya was able to grab her dogs and get out of the house with only the clothes on her back. The house was already engulfed in flames. There was no fire hy drant on the property located at 511 South Avenue F. It took four different fire departments over four hours to subdue the blaze with the resources available to them.
Smaller fires burned for sev eral more hours.
Sonya told the JCRC, "The cause of the fire is deemed indeterminable
. We were able to live in our forever home for 851 days after waiting eight years to build it.”
They are staying in a do- nated RV with plans to fin ish out the garage apartment on the property. That work is currently on hold due to a critical need of adequate sewer.
Two GoFundMe accounts have been established as well as accounts at Johnson City Bank and Texas Regional Bank. The family gratefully appreciates any and all donations as they try to rebuild their lives.
