The owner of a home in Robinson that burned to the ground overnight had it up for sale and was supposed to close on it Monday.
News Channel 25 spoke with Rodney Toten who said he, his wife, and 10 children, were going to move from their house in the 1600 block of Sunset Dr. and into a rental home up the street as they built a new house.
He said, now, all those plans are on hold, and they are trying to figure out what to do next as they stay for two nights in a hotel in Robinson. Toten said his oldest child is 18, and his youngest child is 18-months.
Robinson police and Robinson firefighters said they responded to the scene shortly before 3 a.m. Thursday after a passerby reported the fire upon seeing it from the road.
Toten said he and his family were not home when the fire started. He said his wife had taken their 10 children up to Fort Worth and then gotten a flat tire. He drove up to help her change it and said he was gone for about three hours. When he came back to his home, he said it was up in flames.
When firefighters arrived, they said they also found it engulfed and had to evacuate houses nearby because an active gas line was burning at the home. They said Atmos Energy went on the scene to cut gas and power to the home.
Firefighters said they do not know what caused the fire at this point. The fire marshal will look into that.
No one was injured, including pets that were outside the home.
If you would like to help the Toten family, there are several ways you can. You can donate to the GoFundMe set up for the family, you can email Rodney Toten, or you can drop off donations Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 101 Deanna Street in Robinson. The family is accepting clothes and furniture.
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