SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Fire Department officials said lightning struck a North Side hotel and forced the evacuation of nearly 50 guests early Friday morning.
Fire crews responded to a call for smoke and a fire around 3 a.m. at the Holiday Inn located in the 19200 block of Redland Road off Highway 281 and north of Loop 1604.
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Firefighters arrived and determined a lightning strike blew a 4-to-5-foot hole in the roof of the hotel.
Hotel guests heard the lightning around 2 a.m.
"I knew that it was a hit just by the flash, you know, that it was so strong," said Brian McClure, who was staying in the room next to the strike.
He said he got up and quickly dressed, then went into the hall, but didn't see any smoke.
"I laid back down for about 45 minutes and (heard) a knock on the door. (They said I) need to leave. I said no problem," McClure said.
Some hotel guests were upset by how long it took firefighters to arrive.
"We were out here for an hour until they turned off the fire alarm. The fire department never showed up," said a man staying at the hotel.
"Hotel employees actually walked the halls. They did a check as well. They didn't see anything that would raise a red flag, and so that's why we weren't dispatched on the initial call," said San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Christian Bove.
Fire officials said the fire was only smoldering inside the walls after the lightning strike.
"With the rain, it's kind of keeping it in check on the outside, but it still has been kind of hard to detect on the inside," said Assistant Fire Chief Oscar Gonzalez.
Guests staying on the fourth floor were evacuated to the lobby and the hole was covered with a tarp.