SAN ANTONIO -- A northwest-side family is mourning the loss of a neighbor and friend who died Sunday morning in a mobile home fire.
Suzette Donally said 64-year-old Dennis Kolker was like family.
"Not blood related, but he became like family," she said.
Kolker was a quiet man, Donally said, who kept to himself and took care of the cats that he bought mainly for her kids to enjoy. Over the 10 years they had known each other, they had grown close.
"He thought of my children as his grandchildren because he doesn’t get to see his grandchildren," Donally said.
Donally was woken just before 2 a.m. by bright sirens outside her home at Babcock Road and Glaze. San Antonio police were the first to arrive. They tried knocking, but said nobody responded.
Firefighters arrived next and fought the blaze from a defensive position. Twenty minutes later, the fire was under control but the mobile home was badly scorched.
Fire crews found the victim's body in the living room, not far from the door.
Donally said Kolker died one day before his 65th birthday.
"I just pray that he is resting in peace," she said.
