Woman killed in NE Side house fire identified

Victim identified as Sasha Dawn Byler, 46

SAN ANTONIO, TEXASUpdated Friday at 12:03 p.m.:

The victim was identified as Sasha Dawn Byler, 46.

Original story:

A gas leak may have fueled a massive fire that destroyed a Northeast Side home early Wednesday morning and left one person dead.

San Antonio firefighters spent more than an hour pouring water on the fire which consumed the home, located in the 13800 block of Briarmeadow.

1 dead in massive NE Side house fire, officials say

When they arrived after 5:30 a.m., they found flames coming through the roof and burning through several sides of the home.

“Due to the heavy fire that we had in the middle of the structure, it was hard for us initially to go in and do a search,” said Woody Woodward, a spokesman for SAFD.

Flames already had burned through the roof by the time firefighters arrived. (KSAT 12 News)

He said once they were able to make their way inside, firefighters found the body of a person who appeared to be trying to escape the fire.

Woodward was careful not to release too many details, including the gender of the person who was found dead.

Neighbors told firefighters that the owners of the home no longer lived there.

“They did have one child, an adult child, that occasionally would come, stay at the home,” Woodward said.

He said was not able to say right away if the deceased was the daughter of the homeowners.

Neighbors told KSAT 12 News that they often saw several people going in and out of the home, which they said had no working electricity or water.

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They said the people recently appeared to be using a generator to power the home.

Woodward said although the utilities had been shut off, there was a gas leak for some reason.

“According to those close to the victim, they had recently reported that there was a gas leak in the house and, unfortunately, this individual did not report that gas leak to CPS (Energy),” he said.

At the height of the fire, police helped to usher some neighbors out of their homes.

Although those homes were threatened for a while, firefighters ultimately were able to keep the fire from spreading.


About the Authors:

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.

Tim has been a photojournalist and video editor at KSAT since 1998. He came to San Antonio from Lubbock, where he worked in TV and earned his bachelor's degree in Electronic Media and Communication from Texas Tech University. Tim has won a handful of awards and has earned a master's in Strategic Communication and Innovation from Tech as well.