Fire destroys Cameron bar

By John Cuoco at KXXV News, Waco Temple Killeen
A Cameron bar was destroyed after an early morning fire Monday. It happened around 1:30 a.m. at Vega’s Bar, located on the corner of Travis and Gillis Streets in Cameron.
The Fire Marshal on the scene told News Channel 25 that the fire looked to be accidental and a television set plugged into a socket that shorted out was to blame.

“I live nine miles away and I could see the glow from Buckholts, when I got here, it was gone,” Cathy Holcomb, Vega’s Bar Manager, said.

The short ignited the TV set, melting a brass ring on a wall-heater.

“Gas fed the fire and it went from there,” said Cameron Fire Chief Henry Horelica.

Three people were living in a back apartment of the bar. While fire fighters were removing the people from the home, less than one-gram of cocaine was found sitting beside a bed.

“One of my guys came up to me and said ‘Hey, chief’, we found some cocaine in there, I told him go tell police, so he did. They went in, found what they had, and they took him to jail at that point,” Chief Horelica said.

Cameron police arrested 24-year-old Victor Manuel. Authorities said he admitted the cocaine was his. He was transported to Milam County jail, and according to Chief Horelica, Manuel is an illegal immigrant and will be transported back to Mexico.

K-9 units were brought into search for more drugs later in the morning, but nothing was found.

The near-century-old building was a total loss, but there were no injuries in the blaze.
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Report From The Bryan College Station Eagle