5th Body Recovered from San Marcos Apartment Fire Scene

SAN MARCOS, TX — With a somber face, San Marcos Fire Marshal Kelly Kistner informed a gathering of news reporters this morning that a fourth body had been recovered from the scene of the large apartment fire that occurred early Friday morning.

A news conference was held at 10 a.m. Monday morning in San Marcos.

Since then a fifth body has been recovered, according to The Statesman, citing the City of San Marcos as the source.

This morning, Kistner declined to identify who the victims were, acknowledging that the local justice of the peace and the Travis County Medical Examiner where the bodies were taken. The San Marcos Fire Chief, also refused to state the gender of the bodies recovered.

The fire marshal said all bodies that were in the primary structure engulfed with fire, called “building 500” of the Iconic apartment complex, have been recovered. This was the building most affected by the fire, he said. Every piece of debris is being searched manually, the fire marshal said. No heavy equipment is used and his investigators are fetching every shred of evidence.

The extreme 100 degree F and higher heat along with the humidity is slowing the investigation and recovery effort, the fire marshal said.

Authorities in San Marcos have identified five missing in the aftermath of the fire. San Marcos Fire Chief Les Stephens said until the medical examiners identify the bodies, he will not say if any of the bodies recovered are of any of the five the City announced missing Saturday.

Authorities are also uncertain the five identified as missing are the only possible victims. It was summer. Some of the apartments may have been sublet. Friends may have been staying overnight and are unaccounted by the recovery teams, the fire marshal said.

“We don’t know how many victims there will be,” he said. Later, he promised the investigators would closely clear every piece of real estate at the fire scene looking for victims.

The fire marshal said neither apartment complex involved in the fire had fire suppression systems, or sprinkler systems. “The reason was this building (Iconic) was constructed in 1970,” he said. Sprinklers were not a requirement in City code back then, and there have been no extensive remodels since 1970 that would require the landlords to install a system, he said.

He also said his team is investigating the status of the fire alarms. There may have been smoke detectors inside the apartments, but so far into the investigation, officials have not determined the operational status of those detectors, he said

The first 9-1-1 call for the fire originated at 4:27 a.m., officials said. Firefighting operations continued through Friday evening.

Presumed dead as a result of the fire is Haley Frizzell, daughter of Brian and Michele Frizzell of San Angelo. Another college student from San Angelo, Zachary Sutterfield, remains in critical condition. The Mayor of San Marcos, John Thomaides, said, “We pray for a speedy recovery to those injured are impacted by the fire, particularly Mr. Zachary Sutterfield, who remains in the hospital in San Antonio.”