‘Been through the worst’: Man loses longtime home in wildfire months after losing wife in crash

CANYON, Texas (KFDA/Gray News) - A Texas man who has called the same piece of land home for nearly three decades has lost his property in a wildfire.

Roger Wilson built a house, his gun range and his life before the Hungate Fire swept through Randall County.

Wilson says when he first moved to the property, there were only two neighbors nearby.

“There was nobody else, so you might almost say I was a homesteader to a certain degree,” he said.

Wilson returned to the property over the weekend, while it was still smoldering. He has no homeowner’s insurance and is making plans to rebuild.

“It’ll be a little rough, but it’s OK,” he said.

Wilson isn’t just rebuilding for himself. He is the legal guardian of an 81-year-old woman he and his late wife took in years ago after she was evicted from a trailer park and had nowhere else to go.

Her mother died, and Wilson is the only family she has left.

“She has nobody except for me. So I’m her legal guardian. And I’m trying to reestablish some kind of a home for her,” Wilson said.

In the fire, Wilson also lost two dogs and four cats.

One cat was found alive under a freight container that was still burning the morning after the fire. A local veterinarian treated the animal at no charge.

“It’s like I said, the people around here are wonderful,” Wilson said.

Wilson’s resilience is rooted in something deeper than the fire.

His first wife died of breast cancer.

His second wife was killed in a car crash just five months ago, less than six miles from the property where he now stands in the rubble.

But he calls the fire a “flea bite” by comparison.

“I know it looks devastating to everybody, but I lost my wife back in December. So to me, I’ve already been through the worst,” Wilson said.

Wilson has always called this property the land of angels. The ashes of both of his late wives, his brother, his sister, and other family members are spread across the land with their memorials still standing.

He also had a message of gratitude for the community that has rallied around fire victims across the Panhandle.

“I’m so grateful for the Texas Panhandle because I’ve been to a lot of different places. The Texas Panhandle and its people are pretty much awesome anywhere in the world,” Wilson said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Wilson rebuild.