Former mayor feared dead in Colleyville house fire
The bodies of two men, one of whom was believed to be a former Colleyville mayor, were found Thursday night in the burned remains of a two-story house that had caught fire more than 12 hours earlier.
The bodies will be identified by the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office, city spokeswoman Mona Gandy said.
Tarrant County property records indicate that the house and adjacent property, valued at more than $300,000, are owned by John Andrews.
Relatives identified the men as Andrews, 79, and his grandson, Bobby O’Neal Jr., 33, Star-Telegram media partner WFAA reported.
Andrews was mayor from 1977 to 1979.
Two women escaped the flames, Fire Chief Brian Riley said.
“One of the women who got out attempted to go back in, and we had to stop her from that,” he said.
A family dog was also missing, officials said. Horses in a barn near the home were released uninjured into a pasture.
The fire was reported at 7:07 a.m. Thursday in the 2200 block of Oak Knoll Drive.
“Firefighters went into the home, but they were pushed back out by the flames,” Gandy said.
A witness told investigators that there was a large fire in the kitchen.
Tarrant County Fire Marshal Randy Renois said that the cause has not been determined but that “it’s possible we are looking at an accidental fire.”
The back of the house and part of the second story collapsed. On Thursday afternoon, firefighters shored up what was left so they could search for the men, Renois said. They did not get inside until 6:15 p.m., Gandy said.
The Colleyville Fire Department was assisted by firefighters from Hurst, Grapevine, Euless, Bedford, Keller, Southlake and North Richland Hills.
Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion and dehydration at a hospital and later released, Gandy said.
Staff writers Monica S. Nagy, Domingo Ramirez Jr. and Marty Sabota contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Former mayor feared dead in Colleyville house fire."