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Madla killed in fire at his San Antonio home
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| Parent(s) |
Candidate
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Edited | Thomas Walker Nov 27, 2006 12:10am |
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| Category | Obituary |
| News Date | Monday, November 27, 2006 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | SAN ANTONIO — Former state Sen. Frank Madla died early today in a house fire at his San Antonio home that killed his elderly mother-in-law and seriously injured his wife and 8-year-old granddaughter.
Authorities classified the preliminary cause of the fire as an accident, possibly caused by candles.
"The exact cause is undetermined . . . but we know it started in a downstairs living room at the front of the home and spread up the staircase to the second floor," said Assistant Fire Chief Randy Jenkins.
Helen Madla and granddaughter Aleena were listed in stable condition late this morning in University Hospital, with smoke inhalation and burn injuries, officials said.
Madla's mother-in-law, Mary Cruz, who used a wheelchair, was pulled from the home and died later of burns and smoke inhalation after being airlifted to Brooke Army Medical Center.
The blaze broke out around 2 a.m. in the front living room of the home in the 6000 block of Reef Ridge. A neighbor summoned help after being awakened by "a whoosh and a bang," and seeing smoke pouring from the two-story frame home, Jenkins said.
Firefighters arrived to find "flames shooting out of the front of the house and out of the back, on the second floor," Jenkins said. The fire was brought under control within an hour, and officials pulled the women and girl from inside. Madla's body was discovered upstairs, officials said. Authorities said earlier at the scene that witnesses said they saw a man trying to push out a window air conditioner on the second floor, but he was apparently overcome by smoke and flames.
"We performed CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) on the three patients we brought out, and we got a pulse back on all three," Jenkins said.
By late morning, arson investigators at the scene said the blaze "appears to be an accident of some sort," Jenkins said. Fire department arson Capt. Art Villarreal said there appeared to be no foul play.
"They had a lot of candles — man |
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