By Anita Miller
San Marcos — Firefighters managed to save nearby building and prevent polluting runoff from reaching the San Marcos River on Sunday, but were unable to save the historic building that housed the Amkon General Store and The Critter Shop.
No one was injured, but there were animals, reportedly only fish and reptiles, inside that did not survive. A sign outside advertised chicks, bunnies and ferrets, but the store's owner told city officials those animals were only on sale around Christmas.
City officials said the fire was reported about 2 p.m. and the San Marcos Fire Department issued an "all call," meaning all on and off-duty personnel responded. South Hays volunteers helped to battle the blaze, and New Braunfels firefighters were in town to handle other fire calls.
City spokeswoman Melissa Millecam said the fire started in the rear of the building (nearest Guadalupe Street) and then quickly spread. On orders from Battalion Chief Bob Zook, firefighters carried out a defensive attack because the building was too unstable to enter.
Firefighters including two in the SMFD's Truck One ladder apparatus, put water on the building from all four sides, their efforts hampered by the metal construction.
Though the building's contents were lost, propane tanks inside did not explode, Millecam said fire officials said.
The building dated to the 1920s and the Amkon General Store had been in it for decades. It was the city's only remaining true feed store, where prices were reasonable and service included employees carrying heavy bags out to customers' cars.
The business did not have a Web site, but online accounts describe it as having reptiles, animal health and vet supplies, birds, exotic mammals, feed and seed, fresh and saltwater fish, habitats and supplies, hay, lawn and garden, horse supplies and tack, herbicides, fertilizer, pet products and pet food.
Dozens of onlookers gathered behind yellow police tape, watching the firefighters work and listening to the sounds of the water hitting the building's tin construction and the "pings" that caution firefighters their air supply is low.
EMS set up a station to check out firefighters' blood pressure and other vital signs. Millecam said that was standard practice in a big fire.
The blaze was mostly under control in about two hours and around 5 p.m., front end loaders were used to tear out sections of the building to allow access. For the duration of the effort, rail traffic was diverted off the Union Pacific line that paralleled the building.
Even before the fire was out, hazmat crews were placing booms in adjacent Purgatory Creek, which empties into the San Marcos River a short distance away.
"Our favorite attraction was the chicks, which they had a plentitude of" at their last visit, said a woman with her two young daughters.
She declined to give her full name, but said she had also planned to return to the store to buy pigeon food "when I get paid."
"This place has been here longer than I have," she said. 'I want to cry right now."
