San Marcos Fire Department says Iconic Village blaze is a homicide investigation; asks public to call tip line

An agency official from the San Marcos Fire Department said the deadly fire at the Iconic Village apartment complex is being treated as a homicide and called on the public to help investigators.

"Someone started the fire that killed five people. This is a homicide investigation," the agency official said, adding that firefighters encountered chaos on arrival and initially had not located victims or known how many people were affected. The official said the department is "as committed today as it has ever been to seeking justice for the victims of the Iconic Village fire."

Investigators are asking people who recognize nearby wireless network names or can identify the locations of wireless access points in the area at the time of the fire to call the tip line at 512-393-7388. "Please do not assume that we know what you know," the official said, urging residents to review and share the published list with former roommates, neighbors and friends.

The department said it is treating tips and the identification of network locations as potentially material to the investigation and encouraged anyone with relevant information to contact the tip line. No suspect names, arrests or formal charges were announced in the statement, and officials did not provide a timeline for further public updates.