Burn victim succumbs to injuries

(Redwood) — An elderly woman, who suffered burns in a house fire over a week ago, has died. Guadalupe County Fire Marshal Patrick Pinder says 77-year old Paula Cordero died Friday, Aug. 4 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. On July 29, Cordero and a 53year old man suffered burns in a house fire at their home in the 1900 block of Poplar Street in the San Marcos area. Both tried to escape the structure fire, but were critically injured by the flames. Pinder says while Cordero died six days after the fire, the male victim, who’s name has not bee released, remains in the intensive care unit at BAMC.

Pinder says the investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, but he says as of this time, the fire marshal’s office has not been able to rule out an electrical malfunction as a contributing factor to the fire.

There appeared to be no working smoke alarms inside the home. Pinder says smoke detectors may have made a big difference in the outcome of this case, and he says they recommend all homes have working smoke detectors — no matter what type of home that it is. He says that can be the “difference between life and death in a fire emergency.”

In addition to the injuries, Pinder says the fire caused extensive damage to the home and also damaged vehicles that were parked in the driveway.

The fire was reported on Saturday, July 29, with several fire departments responding to the scene. The list of departments includes the York Creek Volunteer Fire Department, San Marcos Fire Department, Martindale Fire Department, Guadalupe County Fire Rescue, San Marcos South Hays EMS, Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office, and the Guadalupe County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Community invited to help cool off area firefighters

(Guadalupe County) – Despite it being 100 degrees plus, area fire fighters continue to battle massive grass fires. Guadalupe County Fire Marshal Patrick Pinder says firefighters have spent much of the last few weeks if not all summer fighting a series of grass fires countywide.

Firefighters on Wednesday battled a grass fire on Branch Road. A total of five acres caught fire after negligence by a welder. Pinder says a citation was issued by fire marshals for the burn ban violations.

After a hard day’s work, he says fire fighters only returned the next day to battle a six-acre fire in Kingsbury.

The continued heat, Pinder says, has not made things easy. Requests for bottled water or Gatorades have also come in from area fire departments. One example came from York Creek Volunteer Fire Department which posted on its social media site that water "would be greatly appreciated and there would be a bunch of firefighters that would jump for joy!"

Although from York Creek VFD, all area fire departments say they could use some extra relief.

Residents wishing to donate bottled water or other needs by a department are asked to reach out to the various fire departments in the area.