SAN ANTONIO – One person died in a house fire Wednesday morning in west Bexar County, officials said.
Firefighters were called out to the 9800 block of Misty Plain Drive around 6:50 a.m. – but they didn’t find the victim in their initial search.
“They noticed heavy smoke coming from the house behind me and they requested assistance from other districts,” said Tom Peine, assistant public information officer for Bexar County. “They did a preliminary search of the residence and did not did not find anybody. However, later, a more thorough search, which is protocol, was conducted, and during that more thorough search, they did find a body of a deceased person.”
Neighbors said the person who lived at the home did collect a lot of objects, and firefighters said that may have made it more difficult for the firefighters.
“I was being told from the folks who were actually inside, and they said what they found appeared cluttered, and it gave them trouble entering the house, so they had to force entry, which in these types of scenarios always makes the firefighting effort itself, difficult,” Peine said.
He said the initial response conducted by firefighters followed standard operating procedure.
“They go in, they want to look, is anybody inside the house. Because the firefighters want to make sure that everybody is safe, can get out. Somebody may be unconscious, so they conduct their firefighting efforts, and then they look for people inside the house or pets. Then afterwards, once the fire is extinguished, they do another search. And then comes another very thorough search,” Peine said.
The name of the victim has not been released but Peine said, “There’s a homeowner who is currently unaccounted for.”
Investigators are working to figure out what exactly happened.
“We’re currently we have deputies with a fire marshal’s office here. We’re conducting the investigation,” Peine said.