Fire at SPJST Beyersville Hall ruled accidental

BEYERSVILLE, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - The Williamson County Fire Marshal's Office has ruled Tuesday's fire at the SPJST Lodge in Beyersville was accidental.

Investigators say the building was recently struck by lightning, which may have caused issues with the building's air conditioning unit.

Since the 1960s, now-80-year-old Bobby Wuensche has been a member of the Beyersville SPJST Lodge. 

“Yes, I started the renovations myself, by myself, I worked on this hall about a year or so,” Wuensche said.

The lifelong farmer helped lay the foundation of this building.

“See at first they didn't have no bathrooms, so in 1963 the members got together and had bathrooms built,” Wuensche said.

It's a building that, in many ways, has helped lay the foundation for this community, home to weddings, holiday celebrations, and family reunions. It's been a place for many generations to create memories. 

Now it's time to rebuild after the building caught fire on Tuesday. 

“They had a lot of fire in the attic, fire was mostly contained to that attic space, they had to get in there and pull some ceiling down to get it all exposed to be able to get to the fire,” assistant fire marshal Paul Ayres said.

The Fire Marshal's office estimates $200,000 worth of damage. 

“It's a real loss in the community,” Wuensche said, but a loss dedicated members like him say is only temporary. “No we're not gonna give up, in fact I was thinking on the way out here 'you know, this isn't a loss as much as something that will get us to work together better’.”