Plumes of smoke visible for miles as fire burns at business south of downtown

100 firefighters battle flames at building in 1500 block of S. Flores St.

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio fire crews responded to a stubborn fire at a business south of downtown Friday morning.

The fire was reported at about 10 a.m. in the 1500 block of S. Flores St. at the intersection with Cevallos St.

About 27 fire units responded with more than 100 firefighters working to battle the flames.

San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Joe Arrington said the fire started outside and spread to two buildings.

One of the buildings was consumed by flames and firefighters were forced to take a defensive strategy.

Witnesses on the scene say the building houses Sweb, an internet marketing and web design business.

All of the employees were able to evacuate safely and no injuries have been reported.

Arrington said because of the sturdy construction of the older building, it wasn’t a typical fire for them.

Neighboring businesses were evacuated as flames spread to another building next door to the first.

Firefighters were still taking an offensive approach and trying to salvage that second building.

Fire crews are expected to be on the scene until mid-afternoon. Arson investigators will then work to determine a cause for the fire.

Smoke from the fire was visible for miles.

Sweb posted on its Facebook page Friday afternoon saying “Because we work in the cloud, all of our files and work are safe.”


About the Authors:

Julie Moreno has worked in local television news for more than 25 years. She came to KSAT as a news producer in 2000. After producing thousands of newscasts, she transitioned to the digital team in 2015. She writes on a wide variety of topics from breaking news to trending stories and manages KSAT’s daily digital content strategy.