Elisha Nunez
San Antonio Express-News
(TNS)
Jul. 24—Two more people died after a house fire Saturday, bringing the death toll to five. One person remains in the hospital.
Fire Chief Charles Hood said it's the deadliest fire in the city since 2012, when four people died in a boarding house. The cause is still under investigation, he said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
The five people killed represented three generations of a family, from a grandmother to the daughter to the grandchildren, Hood said.
Two women, ages 29 and 51, died, and three children, a boy, 12, and two girls, ages 11 and 6. The grandfather remains hospitalized, Hood said.
"So again, very sad. It's really important that each and every one of you are here because we need to talk about the importance of smoke detectors and escape routes," the chief said.
First responders received a call about a house on fire around 3 a.m. Saturday.
When firefighters arrived, they saw flames in the garage and smoke billowing from the two-story home in the 16600 block of Winding Oak, Hood said. First responders who kicked in the front door heard screams from inside, he said.
Firefighters found three children upstairs and three adults downstairs. All six were able to get out and were being treated for smoke inhalation, but one woman died at the scene, Hood said. Another adult and three children have since died in the hospital.
District Chief Douglas Berry said they had not determined a cause for the fire, but it did not appear suspicious and started in the garage.
"Initial reports were that that home did not have a functioning smoke alarm; however, there was one found that was operating upstairs. It's critical to have more than one smoke detector in your homes," Hood said.
Anytime there is a fire fatality in a neighborhood, the fire department canvases that area the next day to ensure that people have smoke detectors to prevent another tragedy.
"When you have kids, it affects you so much in so many ways," Hood said.
"Every firefighter that I talked to, we wanted them to go home and get some rest, hug their kids."
The chief urged fire safety and said the department has a program to encourage residents to use smoke detectors. Those who can't afford smoke detectors can call 211 to set up an appointment for the fire department to come out and install them.
Additional fire safety tips are available at firesafesa.com.
Ricardo Delgado contributed to this story.
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