Courtesy: The Herald-Zeitung

SPRING BRANCH -- Tragedy came in twos in western Comal County Monday.

A Spring Branch firefighter died trying to get to a blaze that destroyed an Amman Road home, leaving a father and his 14-year-old daughter homeless on the day before Christmas.

Firefighter David Butler, 43, was flown from the scene of the accident to University Hospital in what another firefighter described as “very critical” condition.

An official at University Hospital in San Antonio reported that Butler was pronounced dead at 11:51 a.m.

Butler was southbound on U.S. 281 shortly after 10 a.m., driving a light Spring Branch Volunteer Fire Department “first response” rescue vehicle loaded with emergency equipment.

Department of Public Safety trooper Vaughn Pack said Butler was driving the SBVFD’s battalion truck southbound on U.S. 281 when he drove into the center median of the highway about seven-tenths of a mile north of the Guadalupe River bridges.

Butler knocked down two road signs in the median, Pack said.

The truck continued through the grass and onto the northbound side of the highway, where it continued four-tenths of a mile southbound and crossed the river.

Just south of the bridge, it ran into rocks and trees alongside the road and was heavily damaged.

“We don’t know why it happened,” Pack said. “We’re still investigating.”

An autopsy would be ordered, Pack said.

“Maybe the medical examiner can answer some questions for us,” Pack said.