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Deja Cooper, proprietor of downtown Elgin’s Chemn Café, is back to work after suffering a devastating loss when her house burned down earlier this month.
Cooper is in awe over the amount of support she has received from business neighbors, community members and strangers alike. She recounted the evening with admiration for the local firefighters who braved the flames but questions what else can be done to prevent a tragedy like this from happening to anyone else.
“They’re heroes, it just wasn’t enough,” said Cooper. “We lost everything. We’ve just been taking it day by day.”
The Elm Creek residence caught fire around 2 a.m. on July 5 when her husband Maurice Cooper first noticed the kitchen light fixture aflame. While this may have been the result of an electrical fire, Deja believes this could also have come from unsafe neighborhood fireworks during a Fourth of July celebration. The neighborhood is notorious for having fireworks that last all night, she said.
Elgin Fire Department Chief Chris Botello couldn’t speak on this specific fire but recognized the possibility.
“Has it been known that fireworks can start house fires, absolutely,” he said. “It is illegal in city areas, but people still do it, and we ask that they don’t because of situations like this.”
The official report and cause of this house fire has not yet been released.
The dispatching from Bastrop County Emergency Communications Department was rapid and efficient, according to Botello. Issues can come when a residence lies on the border between two counties like Cooper’s, he added, but that was not the case here.
Despite a prompt response, the attic was already aflame when the first engine arrived. “Even if we had 20 firefighters there, I don’t know we could have saved it,” Botello said.
Regardless, Botello has plans to staff up the department, doubling the number of full-time firefighters employed.
Completely uprooted, having lost everything, Cooper did not once consider leaving Elgin. “Elgin is our home. Especially with all the support, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else,” she said. “My kids have several homes here now and they’ve been shown that. It makes me inspired to keep going.”
Coope r remai ns speechless over the amount of aid she has been shown. She praised her neighbors and friends that have given her places to stay, local businesses that have raised money without her ever asking and New Beginnings daycare for providing clothes and belongings for her kids.
Cooper is looking onward, trying to pick up the pieces as much as possible. She appreciates any kind words but also finds solace in getting back to work around people that don’t know what happened.
Those looking to help can make a donation to the Cooper family at https://www.gofundme. c om/ f / y tmz f - c o o per-family-house-fire.
