Aidan Lane Dwyer, 24, of San Marcos, was arrested in Jasper County and charged with arson, a second degree felony, in connection with the fire that burned Savage’s Hill Country Bar and Grill on June 27. No bond has been set as of the morning of July 1.
One person has been reported injured in the fire, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office; however, the Hays County Fire Marshal’s Office said the investigation into the fire is ongoing and did not confirm if there were any injuries related to the fire. Dwyer has been transferred to the Hays County Jail.
The Hays County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that they initially received a call for a burglar alarm at 3:31 a.m. on June 27. Deputies cleared that alarm as a false alarm at 3:35 a.m. A second alarm call was sent at 4:47 a.m. When deputies arrived again, they saw the fire and called firefighters to the scene. The Hays County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the code called in by the alarm system was what is commonly referred to as a burglar alarm and was not a fire alarm.
According to Christopher Robbins, Assistant Chief of Wimberley Fire Rescue, first responders were called to the fire just before 5 a.m.
“Our guys arrived on location, and we discovered heavy fire involvement on the first floor pushing out the left side of the building, and then we also had blackout conditions with turbulent smoke on the second story. It was already preparing to self ventilate, so we initiated a fast offensive attack on the first floor to try and reset the fire conditions.”
Robbins said that firefighters were able to gain control of the first floor of the building before heading up to the second floor to try and access voids in the ceiling and roof. Due to the conditions of the fire as well as the design features of the building, such as vaulted ceilings, firefighters were unable to breach the ceiling and they began to change to using a defensive fire approach to contain the damage to the main structure.
Beyond Wimberley Fire, South Hays Fire Department, San Marcos Fire Department and Canyon Lake Fire Department responded.
Robbins stated that there was no damage to the surrounding structures.
“The crews did an amazing job taking a position to prevent [damage to the other buildings]," Robbins said.
No firefighters were injured during the incident.
