Family Members Confirm Former Mayor Died In Colleyville Fire
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COLLEYVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) - Hours after an intense fire tore through a Colleyville home, firefighters recovered two bodies from inside.
"It was just surreal, the sort of thing you just... it's unbelievable," Ralph Wooster said.
Wooster lives across from his friends who lived in the home that caught fire early Thursday morning. Family members have identified the two men believed to be trapped inside as former Colleyville Mayor John Andrews and his adult grandson, Bobby Oneal, Jr. They tell us the two women who made it out are Andrews' wife and daughter. Firefighters had to stop the survivors from going back in to try to save their loved ones.
"All you can do is just stand around helplessly and watch your house burn and even worse if you know somebody might be inside. I can't imagine it. I can't fathom what she was going through at that moment," Wooster said.
A limited number of search and rescue team members have been able to get inside to try to secure a safe path for more firefighters to search the mens' bedrooms, but they continue to find dangerous hot spots, leaving the family to wait for what they'll find.
"Our prayers and hopes go with them. Our thoughts that they can endure this," Wooster said.
Two firefighters had to be taken to a local hospital to be treated for dehydration. Firefighters will continue to clear the collapsed parts of the home to make their way to where they believe the men are.
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