Fire victim: ‘God’s going to get me through’

Feb. 20--GOLIAD -- The rubble was still smoking, an occasional flame picking up as the wind swirled through half-burnt trees.

On Friday morning, Denean Stehling, 51, and her 27-year-old son, Steven Stehling, sat underneath an old oak, watching what remained of their home smolder.

What had been a four-bedroom, two-bath double-wide mobile home and a single bedroom home from 1898 had been reduced to charred wood, ashes and concrete blocks. The fire began sometime between 7:38 p.m. and 8:07 p.m. Thursday.

The fire is the latest in a series of calamities for the Stehling family.

Denean's husband, Mitchell Dale Stehling, disappeared while hiking in Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park in June 2013. He was never found.

On Thursday night Steven set the oven to preheat while he took a shower in the mobile home. When he got out, both the oven and cabinets were on fire.

"I just tried to contain it, but it was a lost cause," he said as he sat next to the remains of the homes. "My main thought was get out, open the gate and turn off the propane tank."

The fire in the 3800 block of East Farm-to-Market Road 1961 was contained by 9:07 p.m., said Goliad Sheriff's Office Capt. John Pape. Fire units from Ander, Schroeder, Fannin, Weesatche and Goliad responded to the call.

Smoke occasionally drifted over the two on Friday. Denean sat with one of her dogs, Snoopy, on her lap. Steven's dog, Gus, trundled around the area, sometimes being called back from the rubble.

The remains of another dog, a basset hound named Max, was found in the rubble by firefighters. A fourth dog, Daisy, was still missing.

Denean and her husband had been married for 32 years when he disappeared. Next month would have marked their 35th anniversary, and 34 years that they had lived in the house that burned down.

The 1898 home had been moved to the property in 2001, and the two had been slowly working on it when Dale disappeared. Since then, Denean and her children have continued the work, hooking up power and digging trenches for sewer and water lines in the last few weeks.

Denean said Steven "grabbed some pictures, his dad's school pictures . and a box of pictures I had sitting on my desk in that (old) house" as she tried to hold back tears.

But the one thing she is missing the most is her wedding ring. For 35 years, Denean said, she wore it, never taking it off for anything until it recently broke.

Her daughter, who lives in Houston, sent her a ring with a note that said "Happy Valentines Day Mom."

"So I took off my wedding rings and put them in my jewelry box three days ago. And now they're gone," she said through tears, pointing to a still smoldering wood pile where she said her room -- and the jewelry box -- had been.

Denean said she was still processing what had happened and had recently been struggling with the continued loss of her husband.

She said, "My last four months since Dale's been gone has been harder than the first two years when Dale was gone."

Despite her losses, Denean said she has been humbled by the outreach from the community. A GoFundMe account was set up by a friend to help with immediate needs such as clothing. Other friends have stopped by to drop off money or offer support, and family is coming by to help her and Steven. She hopes her insurance will help cover at least some of the damage.

In the meantime, she believes God will help her get through this latest tragedy.

"Sitting and doing nothing does nothing. Even after Dale disappeared, a lot of people were like, 'I think I would be curled up in a ball somewhere.' And I'm like, 'What's that going to do?'" Denean said. "Whatever it is, God's going to get me through, and that's it. I don't believe in the term 'God wouldn't give you more than you could handle,' but I do believe that God gives you whatever you can handle with him."

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