San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Neighbors mourn family of four killed in fire on S.E. Side
Neighbors of a family who died in a house fire Friday were heartbroken over the tragedy, noting that the mom and kids might have been saved had they kept plans to travel this week.
The family of four, whose names have not been publicly released, were found dead in a fire-ravaged home in the 4400 block of Wrangler Run on the far Southeast Side.
Michael Lara, a neighbor, said the mother told him and other neighbors earlier in the week that she was taking her kids to El Paso on Wednesday for a family emergency. But for some reason, they did not go. Neighbors didn’t know why.
“It’s weird that they found all four bodies. They (the mom and kids) didn’t go, or they delayed it (the trip to El Paso),” Lara said.
He mentioned that the family had no relatives in San Antonio and are believed to be from El Paso.
Lara’s dad, Benito, said that when he and his family arrived in the neighborhood more than a decade ago, their neighbors had already been living on Wrangler Run.
The mother “would come over and bring us a plate of food from time to time,” the elder Lara said. He said the father would wave when out mowing the lawn.
The younger Lara said the family’s children were “wellmannered and behaved,” adding that the son was a student at East Central High School and the daughter was in college.
“It’s crazy man, those kids were too young,” he added.
Lara said he had just returned from his night shift when he heard an explosion around 10:45 a.m. Friday.
“It was a big enough explosion to shake the whole house,” he said.
His dad tried to help the family, but their door was too hot to open or knock on.
As of Saturday, the Bexar County medical examiner had not released the identities of the family members.
Joe Arrington, spokesperson with the San Antonio Fire Department, said the cause of the fire and the cause of deaths were under investigation.
“There will likely be no additional information until next week,” Arrington said in an email.