Five confirmed dead in northside retirement community fire

Hundreds evacuated as fire rolls through high-rise apartments on Blanco Rd.

Five people are dead and hundreds more evacuated after a fire at a northside high-rise retirement apartment building.

The first fire calls came in just after 6 a.m. Sunday at the Wedgewood retirement community in the 6700 block of Blanco Rd.

About 150 firefighters rushed to the scene to fight the muiltiple alarm fire and evacuate the hundreds of elderly residents trapped inside.

Fire crews used ladder trucks to bring residents out of the building.

An evacuation site at Churchill High School filled with elderly rescued residents.

Four hours after the fire started San Antonio fire chief Charles Hood delivered the sad news that five people had died in the fire.

He said the building's construction made evacuation difficult and it is forunate more people did not die in the smoke and flames.

Hood also said one person was critical and two others serious at the hospital from the fire.