Family of 5 safely escapes house fire

Electrical problem might have caused fire in 6200 block of Valley Pawn

SAN ANTONIO – A family of five safely escaped their home after it caught fire Friday morning on the city's far Northwest Side.

Family members woke up to the smell of smoke but couldn't find the source so they went back to sleep, San Antonio fire spokesman Woody Woodward said.

They woke up again around 8 a.m. to the sight of flames, Woodward said.

Two children and three adults ran outside the home in the 6200 block of Valley Pawn and called 911.

"It was my day off. I was sleeping in. You wake up to a fire, and that's a pretty jarring moment," Steve Vela, who was in the house, said.

When firefighters arrived, the back of the home was engulfed in flames.

Some pets also made it out safely.

The family was grateful to firefighters because they were able to save one of two urns that contained their mother's ashes.

"They got the bigger one (urn) out. That was my sister's. I'm glad she got it back," Vela said.

Woodward said an electrical problem might be to blame for the fire.

There was no immediate word on a damage estimate.


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David Ibañez has been managing editor of KSAT.com since the website's launch in October 2000.