By Anita Miller
San Marcos — “We’ve had so much love poured our way.”
That’s what Tina Marbach, who with husband Randy owned Amkon General Store, had to say about the response they’ve received from the community since the store was destroyed by fire on Sunday.
Marbach said she wanted people to know “how much we appreciate the prayers and the love and the help. We would love to thank everybody for that.”
She said no decision as yet been made on whether they will reopen the store that was an iconic landmark in San Marcos for 25 years. The old wooden floors and tin construction were no match for fast-spreading flames that swept through the circa 1920s structure and killed an as yet undetermined number of reptiles, birds and fish.
“We don’t know yet. We’re just going day by day,” she said. “We’re just doing the best we can trying to keep our head above the water. We would like to reopen but we don’t know when that will be.”
She said the days since the fire have been spent in meetings with insurance adjusters, a task made more difficult because “all our records were in the store.”
The fire was reported about 2 p.m. on Sunday and around 30 firefighters from San Marcos and South Hays County battled the blaze. New Braunfels firefighters responded to town to handle any other fire-related calls.
Some snakes were saved and ironically, some of the fish that perished died not from the heat but the freezing temperatures on Sunday night.
The flames were knocked down in a couple of hours but the damage was done. “We’ve had lots of offers to bring trucks in to load what we can get out but I don’t think much is salvageable,” Marbach said.
A account to benefit the rebuilding effort has been set up at Broadway Bank under the name Amkon General Store.
