(4-14-08)
George Day and Susan Burkhardt live here on County Road 360 at Lake Corpus Christi. Both are still upset about what they say happened here on their block on Saturday. They claim that they and other residents were prevented from helping firefighters save a neighbors home. George Day told us,"They could have contained the fire where it wouldn't have burnt the whole damn house." Burkhardt added,"They ran out of water they wouldn't let them pump out of the lake because it could cause contamination or because they needed a permit but if they would have been able to or if they'd had bigger trucks they could have save half of this house." The two neighbors also claim two Mathis fire trucks ran out of water and left the fire scene without trying to fill up with lake water. But, Mathis volunteer fire department chief Lucio Munoz told us by phone that no one from his department told the residents they needed a permit to pump water from the lake. He also says that it's true that both his trucks ran out of water. But they tried to use their own pump to get water from the lake. He told 3 News that it got plugged up with debris from the lake and they had to leave to get water in town. By the time they returned, it was too late. The house was a total loss. But in the middle of these claims is the fact that at the same time this fire started, another was set just two doors down from here. The State Fire Marshall is expected to investigate. While that second fire produced no real damage, it could be related to the first fire. There was even possible evidence recovered from the scene.

Michael Gibson 3 News