• Tara Bozick •
• Originally published July 26, 2008 at 12:10 a.m., updated July 26, 2008 at 12:10 a.m.

Sir Studley begged to go along for the car trip. The dachshund got lucky.

Studley usually likes to stay indoors, said Dorinda Boysen, who lived in the house on Parsons Road that burned down Friday afternoon.

“There’s a reason for everything,” she said, staring at the remnants of the burned house, while holding Studley in her arms and kissing the top of his head.

Around 3:40 p.m. Friday, Boysen and homeowner Stan Skipper left their home north of Victoria for a trip down the road.

Five minutes later, 23-year-old Krystle Stasny drove down Parsons Road to drop off her cousin at her grandparents’ home. On the way back, she stopped the car. She saw smoke on the left side of Skipper’s house and one skinny flame coming out the top.

Stasny immediately called dispatchers on her cell phone to report the fire. They told her not to go inside the home, but she wondered if anyone was inside.

“Talk about the most helpless feeling ever,” Stasny said later, watching the fire ravage the house.

She honked her horn repeatedly to alert all the neighbors while keeping emergency services on the line.

Next door, father and son, both named Steve Mitchell, heard the commotion, including dogs barking. They were visiting from Alabama, but ran to make sure the dogs weren’t inside the burning home.

One dog barked at the fire while hiding under the bushes, Mitchell Jr., 20, said. While he grabbed the small dachshund, his dad went inside to make sure no one was inside.

The heat of the burning roof hit Mitchell Sr., 51, and he held his breath for two minutes while banging on doors and walls and checking the beds.

“I wasn’t coming out till I checked the rooms,” he said, adding the house wasn’t fully engulfed yet.

No one was inside the home.

He grabbed the family cat from the garage.

Seven minutes later, Victoria Fire Department and Mission Valley and Nursery volunteer fire departments all responded to the house in the 200 block of Parsons Road.

When firefighters arrived, the fire had spread to most of the attic, Victoria Fire Chief Vance Riley said.

Three tanker trucks made several trips to fire hydrants and other water sources and then back to the scene to unload in a large ground tank. The pumpers sucked the water from that tank to feed the hoses.

It’s called a tanker shuttle operation, Riley said.

“It worked very well this time,” he added. No one was injured.

Unfortunately, the high winds aided the spread of the fire, which took an hour and a half to extinguish, with just a few hot spots left by 5:30 p.m. Firefighters couldn’t enter the home, as it blazed solid orange flames causing the roof to collapse.

They hauled hoses on all sides of the house, with a loud pop or bang shocking the spectators watching nearby.

The homeowner kept some ammunition in the house and the heat caused the back end of the bullets to pop, investigators said.

The Victoria Civilian Academy Alumni Association arrived with water, wet towels and ice to help rehab those working in heavy gear. Jimmy Calaway, Victoria County Precinct 2 constable, directed traffic and kept vehicles out of the way.

Friday night, investigators did not know what started the fire.

“The home was totally destroyed,” Riley said, looking at the blackened, roofless shell of a home.

Fifteen minutes after Stasny reported the fire, Boysen and Skipper returned to their home, with Boysen’s 16-year-old son Ethan Johnson, who also lived there.

Skipper, a manufacturers’ representative, watched firefighters battle the blaze. He had lived in the home 14 years. He also worked from home and he stared, knowing his computer and accounts information were gone.

“It’s all gone,” he said. “All the pictures and family antiques.”

Yet, the three humans, five dogs and cat who lived there all kept their lives.

The family was painting and remodeling the home, hoping to sell Boysen’s Victoria house. Ethan celebrates his birthday today and comforted his mom with the fact they still had the old house.

“At least we have a place to return to,” Ethan told her.

“The good Lord knows what He’s doing,” Boysen said.

Tara Bozick is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6504 or tbozick@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.

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