SAN ANTONIO – A home on San Antonio's far Northwest Side sustained major damage in a fire after the owner reportedly ignored the sound of smoke detectors.
Fire Chief Charles Hood arrived at the scene in the 9300 block of Valley Gate Tuesday morning, where more than two dozen of his firefighters were battling heavy smoke and fire. They had been called there just before 8:30 a.m.
Hood said they did what they could to put out the fire and keep it from spreading to the homes on either side of it.
"Information that we're getting is that (the owner) heard the smoke detector go off (and) for some reason, went and turned that smoke detector off and went back to bed," Hood said. "He was fortunate to make it out OK."
The man who lives in the home did suffer some minor burns but did not have to be hospitalized, he said.
His home, meanwhile, was left with damage throughout, and the intense heat caused siding on the home next door to buckle.
For a while, Edna Perez, who lives across the street, feared the fire had taken an even higher toll.
"My husband ran over there," Perez said. "We thought that the man was inside and a lady who lives there."
She said the thick smoke kept her husband from entering the home.
However, they soon realized that the homeowner had somehow made it out on his own. Perez said they learned that a woman who lives with him was not home at the time.
Arson investigators were called in to look for the cause of the fire.
Just before noon, it sparked up again, burning through the roof on the front of the home.
Friends and family are assisting the homeowner in finding another place to stay, Hood said.