Fire victim asks county to do more

November 13, 2012, 9:00 pm by Frank L. Graham

A victim of one of the 21 arson fires in Kingsland asked the Llano County Commissioners Tuesday if there was more that they could do to help deter fires in the future.

Joe Burnes, a Llano High School graduate now living in McAllen, asked the commissioners to "tap into” their emergency fund to hire more deputies.

"21 fires is an emergency,” Burnes said. "We need to put more deputies on the streets in Kingsland.”

A shed on Burnes’ property burned Oct. 17. He said the shed was used previously for fireworks but, fortunately, they had been moved. Burnes said the shed was used to store truck accessories and was dangerously close to the house he owns in Kingsland.

"We lost $20,000 in assets,” Burnes said.

A week before the fire, the Llano County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 17-year-old Dane Albert Burgess and charged him with arson. He was being held in the Llano County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

For more of this story, see Wednesday's Llano County Journal.