SAN ANTONIO – A West Side homeowner is moving forward after his life changed forever just a few weeks ago.
His home, located in the 9400 block of Bear Creek Drive, went up in flames on July 21. His dogs were still inside at the time, but fortunately, they survived.
Richard Escamilla and his family lost the home due to the significant damage from the fire. Though, the cause of the fire has still not been determined.
The Escamilla family lived at their home for 22 years. Richard remembers his neighbor calling him to let him know his house was on fire.
“Your heart starts beating and everything racing and just racing here, you know, just thinking of 22 years here,” said Escamilla.
Once he arrived at his home, he saw it was being torn apart by flames.
“Just roaring up through the top and I could just see parts of the roof collapsing. I could see the firemen going in there, the smoke coming up,” Escamilla said.
He explained once he saw how far gone his home was, his only concern was the two dogs inside.
After nearly an hour and a half of firefighters working the scene without any signs of the dogs, they spotted them under a bed.
According to Escamilla, fire crews asked if he would go inside and help them get the dogs out, but there were still a few hot spots and the house was smothered by smoke. When he got inside, he recalled seeing his dogs.
“She was underneath that table and then she couldn’t breath and she couldn’t get up and when I went down there to get her the chihuahua, Buddy, he came and stuck his nose out from underneath the bed,” he said.
Escamilla said it’s a blessing both dogs have now been nursed back to health. He considers himself lucky to have insurance and plans to rebuild.