SINTON, Texas — For weeks now, we've seen wildfires become house fires. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, most wildfires happen close to residential areas like in Sinton where some homes are completely destroyed from recent fires.
"I look over there and everything they have is gone. I look over here and Mr. Baker is still here,” Calvin Baker said.
Baker has lived off East Welder Street for over 30 years. When fire spread through his neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, there was nothing he could do.
"When I backed out of my driveway, I could see a ball of fire just rolling,” Baker said.
Neighborhood News Reporter Victoria Balderrama was there with Baker when first responder's evacuated his entire street as they worked to put out the fires.
It wasn't until later that he saw his house on KRIS 6 News.
"The smoke started clearing and our house comes on TV,” Baker said. “I said wow.”
Drone footage from above Baker's house shows his house untouched and the four homes next to his property were burned down on East Welder Street.
Ben Gonzalez with the Texas Department of Insurance told KRIS 6 wildfires are happening all over.
"We've been getting a lot of calls about wildfire not just from the Corpus area but from the pan handle and other areas where they've had large scale fires,” Gonzalez said.
The Texas Department of Insurance advises to make a defensible space around your home.
"Make sure there's nothing flammable that's piled up against your home. Don't have piles of leaves or firewood up against your home because if embers start blowing around from a nearby fire those things can catch on fire and spread to your home,” Gonzalez said.
Here are other projects to do around the house to prevent fires from coming through.
- Maintain your roof and gutters
- Clear your deck of any debris.
"I get out and I take care of the grass, the tree limbs and the gutters,” Baker said.
Aside from these projects to protect your home. You can also create an action plan. It's a checklist to help in the threat of a wildfire.
