San Antonio, Texas House Fire on Blakeley Drive Leaves One Dead, One in Hospital

One person died and another was taken to a hospital after a house fire early Friday on the Northeast Side of San Antonio, Texas, according to the San Antonio Fire Department.

Firefighters were called shortly after midnight to a home in the 200 block of Blakeley Drive, near Rittiman Road and Austin Highway. When crews reached the house, they rescued one person and a pet from inside. A second person in the home died, fire officials said. KTSA News reported the call and the rescue, and KSAT 12 reported the same outcome, with one person dead and another hospitalized, citing San Antonio fire officials.

The rescue on Blakeley Drive

The home is in a residential part of the Northeast Side, close to the crossing of Rittiman Road and Austin Highway. Fire crews who entered the house brought one person out alive, and they also brought out a pet. Fire officials said the home sustained severe interior damage.

No information about the person who died has been released. Officials have not released the names of either person, and they have not said how the two people were related or whether anyone else was in the home at the time.

One person taken to Brooke Army Medical Center

The survivor was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center for smoke inhalation, KTSA reported. Fire officials did not release the survivor's condition beyond that hospital trip, and they did not say on Friday morning how long the person was expected to stay in the hospital.

Smoke inhalation is a common reason a person rescued from a house fire is taken to a hospital even when that person can walk and talk at the scene, because smoke can injure the airway and the lungs in ways that are not visible from outside. In this case, the only medical detail officials have given is that reason for the trip itself.

Arson team investigating the cause

The San Antonio Fire Department's arson team is investigating the cause of the fire, fire officials said. An arson team investigation in a fatal house fire is a standard step, and the word arson in the team's name does not by itself mean officials believe the fire was set on purpose.

That work had no public result on Friday morning. Officials have not said where in the home the fire began, what may have caused it, or how long the investigation will take. They also have not said whether the home had working smoke alarms, and no official has described the fire as suspicious in the reports published so far.

What remains unknown

For families on Blakeley Drive and across the Northeast Side, the open questions are the ones officials usually answer in the hours after a fatal fire: who died, how the survivor is doing, and what started the fire. None of those answers was public when KTSA and KSAT published their first reports on Friday.

This article will be updated in place if the San Antonio Fire Department releases the cause of the fire, the name of the person who died after that name is carried by local outlets, or a change in the survivor's condition.