Family's 7 dogs killed in Fort Bend Co. fire that destroyed 'all memories'

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A fire in Fort Bend County claimed the lives of a family's seven dogs and left one person with severe burn injuries. Now, the family is mourning their beloved pets and a community is stepping in to help.

Almost nothing is left of two trailer homes, an office and a workshop where gunsmith Craig Adkins lived with his granddaughter, her boyfriend, and 11 beloved dogs. Many of the dogs were abandoned and later adopted by Adkins. Sadly, seven of the dogs did not survive the fire.

Adkins is hospitalized and in intensive care as family members continue to search the property for anything that may be salvageable.

"Everything is gone," said Adkins' stepson, Shane Parks. "All the memories, all the pictures that we had are pretty much gone."

The fire marshal told ABC13 the cause was likely electrical. There were no working smoke detectors.

Adkins is left without his house or his business.

It's devastating for the family who lived there or visited and thought of the place as home.

"Just to see it like this, it's really unbearable," family member Tederick Beirle told ABC13. "After I just came to visit a couple weeks ago, it felt like I was just here and now it's all gone."

A lot of work still needs to be done on the seven-acre property. It's overwhelming, almost, as the community chips in. Still, a lifetime worth of belongings vanished in an instant.

"We're hoping to clean this up and rebuild and remember the ones that we lost, and try to rebuild from there," Parks said. "We lost seven dogs in the fire. Some of them were really good dogs. By the time my stepdad got out, it was already a full blaze and he couldn't come in."

For updates on this report, follow ABC13 reporter Tom Abrahams on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.