Nov. 19--SAN ANTONIO -- Two homes in Northeast Bexar County sustained heavy damage after an early morning fire Monday that also caused a gas line rupture, fire officials said.
For a short while Monday morning, neighbors were afraid for the safety of the family that lives in the 8100 block of Whistler, where the fire started, because a neighbor said they were out of town but were supposed to return Sunday afternoon.
A family member eventually reported to investigators that they were still in Houston Monday.
The fire started before 3 a.m. and spread to a home next door, causing a gas line to rupture, fire investigators said. The cause of the fire was undetermined Monday afternoon, said Craig Roberts, the Bexar County Fire Marshal.
The married couple who lives in the house next door from where the fire started was able to safely evacuate, Roberts said.
Two firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, he said. One was hit when a wall collapsed, spraining his ankle. Another was hospitalized with smoke inhalation, he said.
Both houses sustained severe damage and are uninhabitable. The house where the fire started was a total loss, said David Brewer, an investigator in the Bexar County fire marshal's office.
Neighbor Beverly Allen said the family who lives where the fire started took a bus to Houston. 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 were still in her car.
The man later called investigators to report the family was still in Houston.
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