NEWS
Blaze burns across attic-roof of Bowie home
Bowie firefighters battled a large house fire at the corner of Rock and Wise Saturday afternoon where the attic blaze essentially burned the roof off of the home.
The fire call came in at 4:54 p.m. on May 2 for a fire at 201 Rock. The home is owned by William Murray III. Fire Chief Doug Page said when they arrived there was heavy smoke coming from the attic.
“The residents were home when the fire started and someone knocked on the door telling them about the heavy smoke and they needed to leave,” said Page.
As of Monday the cause of the fire was still undetermined.
The fire spread across the top of the house. The chief said there was no fire damage inside although there was significant water damage.
Traffic was diverted as the fire trucks filled that section of Wise Street. Page added it was a very hot and humid day creating steamy conditions for the firefighters.
A young neighbor from around the corner who followed the smoke tried to assist the family. Gracie Vahle, 13, and her mother, Elizabeth, live with her parents one block over at 702 E. Tarrant. Gracie is an eighth grader at Bowie Junior High.
Belinda Vahle, Gracie’s grandmother was outside mowing when she saw the neighborhood filling up with smoke. She called Gracie and told her to get out of the house uncertain of the fire’s location.
Going out into the backyard Gracie saw the fire and when she got to the scene the residents had just come outside, but they were trying to get items they needed from inside. The family had been able to assist their 93-year-old mother out of the house.
“I tried to help them with what I could. They were worried about their photos. The firefighters were able to get some of their photos. I told them everything would be okay,” said Gracie.
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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