SEGUIN, Texas – A multi-alarm fire heavily damaged or destroyed 12 units of an apartment building in Seguin on Monday morning.
A spokesman for the city said the fire started about 9 a.m. in the ceiling of a vacant unit at the Summer's Bend apartments in the 1200 block of East Walnut in Seguin.
The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical in the ceiling of a vacant unit.
Firefighters from Seguin, Schertz, Cibolo, McQueeney and others were called out to battle the flames.
Raul Rodriguez was inside his apartment and about to go to sleep when the fire started.
"I smelled smoke and got up to check, but I didn't see anything, Rodriguez said. "The neighbors were knocking on the doors getting everybody out."
Seguin firefighters were first to arrive on the scene.
"Smoke was coming out of a vacant apartment. We made entry into it. We found fire coming out of the ceiling in the ground floor," said Seguin Fire Chief Gerald Weniger.
The fire quickly worked its way up the building sending flames shooting from the roof.
Additional crews from Schertz, San Marcos, and Cibolo were called in for support due to the size of the fire and the sweltering temperatures.
"We didn't initially have enough manpower," Weniger said. "With the heat situation with the way it is, it was pretty bad."
Residents could only watch as their possessions went up in flames.
Two firefighters suffered minor cuts, but no one else was hurt. The Red Cross is assisting the more than three dozen residents who have been displaced.
"I got my health, my kids are OK (and) that's all that matters," Rodriguez said.