Johnny_Blaze_47
11-24-2006, 02:45 PM
http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/Archives/assets/photos/2005/mar/032105_79-AUE-27.jpg
UPDATE: Former state Sen. Frank Madla dies in house fire
Web Posted: 11/24/2006 12:27 PM CST
Brian Chasnoff
Express-News Staff Writer
A man who was killed in a fire that struck a South Side home early Friday morning was confirmed to be former state Sen. Frank Madla, according to Harold Oliver, who was a senior aide in Madla's Senate staff from 1994-2004.
Madla's mother-in-law Mary Cruz died later at Brooke Army Medical Center, officials at BAMC said.
Two other occupants of the house, Madla's wife, Helen, and the Madlas' granddaughter, Aleena, were in stable condition Friday morning at University Hospital's intensive care unit, hospital officials said.
Officials initially could not confirm the identity of the former senator. Firefighters pulled the girl and the two women from the home.
The blaze broke out around 2 a.m. in the front living room of home in the 6000 block of Reef Ridge. An arson investigator at the scene said the fire "appears to be an accident of some sort."
There were no smoke detectors in the home, according to fire department spokesman Randy Jenkins.
"They had a lot of candles -- many, many, many, many candles," said Fire Department arson Capt. Art Villarreal. The candles apparently were part of a holiday party display that took the family an hour to extinguish.
Everyone was asleep when the fire broke out, Villarreal said. It appears Madla tried to crawl out of a bedroom in the second floor but was apparently overcome by the fire and smoke.
Fire officials were taking sample of debris Friday morning but offered no definitive cause. Villarreal said it appeared there was no foul play.
A longtime state legislator, Madla was a member of the House from 1973 to 1992. He served in the Senate from 1993 until May, when he resigned his post soon after losing the Democratic primary.
UPDATE: Former state Sen. Frank Madla dies in house fire
Web Posted: 11/24/2006 12:27 PM CST
Brian Chasnoff
Express-News Staff Writer
A man who was killed in a fire that struck a South Side home early Friday morning was confirmed to be former state Sen. Frank Madla, according to Harold Oliver, who was a senior aide in Madla's Senate staff from 1994-2004.
Madla's mother-in-law Mary Cruz died later at Brooke Army Medical Center, officials at BAMC said.
Two other occupants of the house, Madla's wife, Helen, and the Madlas' granddaughter, Aleena, were in stable condition Friday morning at University Hospital's intensive care unit, hospital officials said.
Officials initially could not confirm the identity of the former senator. Firefighters pulled the girl and the two women from the home.
The blaze broke out around 2 a.m. in the front living room of home in the 6000 block of Reef Ridge. An arson investigator at the scene said the fire "appears to be an accident of some sort."
There were no smoke detectors in the home, according to fire department spokesman Randy Jenkins.
"They had a lot of candles -- many, many, many, many candles," said Fire Department arson Capt. Art Villarreal. The candles apparently were part of a holiday party display that took the family an hour to extinguish.
Everyone was asleep when the fire broke out, Villarreal said. It appears Madla tried to crawl out of a bedroom in the second floor but was apparently overcome by the fire and smoke.
Fire officials were taking sample of debris Friday morning but offered no definitive cause. Villarreal said it appeared there was no foul play.
A longtime state legislator, Madla was a member of the House from 1973 to 1992. He served in the Senate from 1993 until May, when he resigned his post soon after losing the Democratic primary.