MEDINA COUNTY, Texas — A church in Helotes is opening its doors to families who've had to evacuate as a large brush fire continues to burn in Medina County. Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church is taking in anyone displaced from their homes.
The church is helping to relieve Loma Alto Middle School, which was being used as the official evacuation center. The school needed to open back up Monday for class.
So far, the Das Goat fire has burned more than 1,000 acres and destroyed three homes. And there's also a disaster declaration for the area.
Ira Rubio, Jean Carlo Andrade, and his brother Sebastian were all forced from their homes as the fire grew this weekend. When it began, Rubio said his parents thought it was no big deal, but it was.
"My parents were going to go to work. But then they saw a cloud and thought they were just burning stuff, right?" Rubio said. "It escalated and it just got worse and worse."
But the Andrade brothers knew this was no normal brush fire.
"We're on our way home back from school and I noticed the giant fire from the distance on our way back. And I said to my mom, 'That seems kind of like large to be just a normal local fire,'" Sebastian said.
Now, several days into the growing brush fire, several homes have been destroyed, and dozens of people displaced. And on Sunday at the Rio Medina Fire Station in Castroville, Governor Greg Abbott briefed Medina County leaders about the latest on the wildfire as a Disaster Declaration for Medina County has been declared.
And like many of those using being evacuated from their homes, these three young men are thankful for all of those who have reached out to help.
"The American Red Cross definitely helped us, helped us out a lot. There's plenty of water, plenty of food for us to gather and regain our consciousness. And just being seen together as a family really helped us to stay strong," Sebastian said.