SAN ANTONIO – An East Side family is trying to figure out what's next after a devastating house fire.
For most of Thursday morning, fire crews were at a home on Hammond Avenue near I-10 and South New Braunfels tending to hot spots.
For Evelyn Thompson, 48 years of memories were taken away in a matter of minutes.
"I don't know what to do, the good thing is that they got my mom out. Now, I'll just have to start over," said Thompson.
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She said around 1 a.m., she opened the door to the water heater to find orange flames and smoke.
"I see a bunch of flames and smoke, and then I started to cough, so I walked away from there, and when I walked away from there, then I started opening the doors calling everybody out, to, you know, like to get out, and I went and I got my mother, and I told her the house is burning, and uh, she got up out of the bed," said Thompson.
She said firefighters told her they believe this was an electrical fire.
"I tried to pull my plug from my phone, and when I tried to pull that, it was hot. Lights started to go off," said Thompson.
Thompson, her husband and her 90-year-old mother all made it out OK.
Firefighters also found two dogs inside. They're now safe and sound. But it wasn't easy.
Making it to the porch, a police officer told the 90 year old she needed to move faster. Thompson says she couldn't.
Putting her on his back, the officer carried the woman to a house across the street.
"The neighbor was nice enough to let us stay there for a while," said Thompson.
The fire was out in about 40 minutes, but a crew stayed for more than five hours.
The fire had spread to the attic, and the old house had plenty of places for hot spots to smolder.
The family did not have homeowners insurance, and when Thompson looked inside, she found it ruined.
Now, Thompson, her husband and her mother need clothes, a place to stay -- really anything.
"My mother's very worried, very concerned. She was crying. Right now, she's just staying with one of my sisters," said Thompson.