Contributions are beginning to flow for a Belton man who lost his home to fire New Year’s Day.
Don Screws, 74, left his home at 2803 Pat Drive on Jan. 1 to go on an afternoon outing. When he came home he found a pile of charred timbers and cinders where his house used to be. His pickup truck was damaged beyond repair.
The only thing not destroyed was his well pump house. Screws, along with his cats, has been living in that 10-by- 10-foot structure the past year.
Joe Trevino, president of the Belton Concerned Citizens Alliance, said a bank account at Extraco Bank has grown to $3,425 since an article ran in the Telegram the first week in December telling of Screws’ plight.
Trevino said 20 to 30 people have contacted him offering to contribute materials such as windows and interior fixtures.
“Our biggest problem is that we have no place to store the many building materials that have been offered,” Trevino said. “If they were brought to the site where Screws’ home burned they would be sitting out in the open and at risk.”
Trevino said he is hoping to find a volunteer to contribute a large storage rental unit. An empty barn or warehouse on rural land would also serve the purpose.
Screws spent most of this year removing the burned debris according to city code, clearing the land and digging the footings for a foundation. The city of Belton has assisted Screws by waiving the permit fees for various stages of construction.
John Smith with the Hillsboro office of United States Department of Agriculture e-mailed Trevino Monday that he will meet with Screws Dec. 30 to see if he qualifies for a low interest loan to help him rebuild.
Trevino said he was told mortgage loans as low as one percent on 38-year pay out are available in certain circumstances.
He also had a call from a man who teaches school.
“The children in his class want to donate their penny collections to the cause,” he said.
Screws had lived in the house for more than 40 years. He said before he left the house for the day Jan. 1, he checked the coals in his wood stove to make sure they had burned down to embers.
“I banked the coals and left, leaving the door unlocked,” Screws said.
He said in his neighborhood that was a standard practice. The one block long street in a rural setting along Interstate 35 is like one big family.
But while he was gone, a mentally challenged neighbor came in and stoked the fire with fresh wood. It got out of control. The rest is history.
Trevino said to make cash donations in an account set up for Don Screws, call Karen Wheeler at Extraco Bank at 254-774-5500. Trevino may be reached at 254-718-9966 for materials donations.
