Nov. 18--SAN ANTONIO -- A man and his two children were unaccounted for Monday morning after their home burned overnight on the 8100 block of Whistler in Northeast Bexar County.
The fire started just before 3 a.m., said Craig Roberts, the Bexar County Fire Marshal. A gas line had ruptured in the house next door, but investigators are still determining whether that caused the fire, Roberts said.
A married couple in the house next door was able to safely evacuate, Roberts said.
Neighbors told firefighters a man named Chester Dominguez lived in the other house with his two fifth-grade children, Sabrina and Ernest Dominguez.
Firefighters conducted three searches of the burned-out house and found no bodies, but Monday morning they had not begun searching a pile of rubble, Roberts said.
"We don't think they were in the house," Roberts said. "Until I know where they are and until I see them, they are unaccounted for."
A black Chevrolet Blazer sport utility vehicle registered to the house was in the driveway Monday morning.
The family took the bus to Houston on Sunday morning, said neighbor Beverly Allen, 63. Allen said she was supposed to pick them up at the bus stop Sunday afternoon but forgot. She said she was not sure how or if the family came home, but said the children's backpacks are still in her car.
Two firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, Roberts said. One was hit when a wall collapsed, spraining his ankle, Roberts said. Another was hospitalized with smoke inhalation, he said.
Check back to mySA.com for updates on this developing story.
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