The Aransas Pass home of former Port Aransas residents Francisca and Mark Nixon and their daughter Lilly may be a complete loss after a fire on Friday night, Sept. 30. In the photo above, Francesca “Kissa” Nixon uses her cell phone while daughter Lilly looks on with the carport where the blaze started in the background. At right is damage in the master bedroom caused by the fire. Kissa Nixon is city secretary for the City of Port Aransas and Lilly Nixon is in eighth grade at Brundrett Middle School. Mark Nixon is a longtime resident of Port Aransas with family still living here.
What is thought to have been an electrical fire appears to have destroyed the home of long-time former Port Aransas residents Francisca and Mark Nixon.
The couple now lives in Aransas Pass in a home purchased three years ago that was built in 2005. She is the city secretary for the City of Port Aransas. He makes and sells cornhole boards.
The fire broke out at about 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, when the couple was going to bed. The first indication was a flickering bedside lamp in the master bedroom, Mark Nixon said.
“Kissa (as he calls his wife) walked into the bedroom and saw my lamp flicker, then about two minutes later it did it again,” he said.
“Then the A/C cut on and off about five minutes later, and Kissa was screaming, “There’s a fire outside in the carport!,” he said.
Nixon said he couldn’t get outside fast enough to try to put the fire out himself, so he, his wife, their daughter Lilly and their rescue dog Butterscotch “abandoned the house.”
Courtesy photos
No one was hurt.
The fire appears to be electrical, Nixon said.
“The fire department asked me if anyone was pissed off at me, and I said, ‘No, nobody’s pissed off at me. I stay out of trouble these days,’” Nixon said with a laugh.
The fire destroyed the master bedroom and bathroom, Lilly’s bathroom, the tools Nixon uses to make and sell cornhole boards, a refrigerator and a smoker. The entire home and the family’s clothing suffered smoke damage.
Nixon said he learned how to get the fish smell out of his clothes, so he took care of his clothing. His wife and daughter weren’t so fortunate, he said.
For now, they are staying at the home of Debra and Larry Williams in Port Aransas, who are on vacation. They’re reaching out to another friend who might have a rental house available for a few months, Nixon said.
A friend — another former Port Aransas resident, Misty Williams Wyatt who also lives in Aransas Pass — has started a Go Fund Me account to help the family with expenses, which Nixon said “has taken off.”
The link to the Go Fund Me Account is www.gofundme.com/f/the-nixon-family-house-fire.
“So many people have offered everything, and people are sending Kissa money through Venmo and donating clothes to Lily. I’ll just have to find out what the insurance will allow for food,” Nixon said.
To donate through Venmo, go to @francisca-Nixon.
Monetary donations for the family also may be sent to Mark Nixon at P.O. Box 703, Port Aransas, TX 78373. Both mother and daughter wear medium-size clothes, Lilly Nixon, who is in eighth-grade at Brundrett Middle School in Port Aransas, said.
Contact Henkel Judson at copubl@portasouthjetty.com
Leave a Reply