SAN ANTONIO – Three members of a family managed to escape a fire in their home south of downtown just in time.
The fire broke out around 10 a.m. Tuesday, sending thick smoke pouring out in the 500 block of King Roger Street.
Linda Gonzales says all three of her relatives who live in the home, including her aunt, were asleep at the time.
Gonzales, who lives across the street, said she was outside her own home, smoking a cigarette, when she saw a bolt of lightning crashing down on the area.
“So I said, ‘Well it hit on the driveway. It hit the driveway.’ I ran inside,” she said. “Then I waited a few minutes and I saw through the window, I saw my cousin coming out. I said, ‘Oh my God! It’s your house.”
Gonzales said other relatives had to help her aunt, who is in her 70s and uses a wheelchair, get out of the home.
Firefighters, meanwhile, quickly got to work putting out the flames which had spread through the attic.
“There were three occupants, to my knowledge,” said Battalion Chief John Castillo with the San Antonio Fire Department. “When we arrived, everyone got out OK. One of the homeowners was complaining of smoke inhalation.”
Paramedics checked out the elderly woman at the scene.
Later, Castillo said she appeared to be ok and did not need to be transported to a hospital.
Firefighters also managed to find two puppies that belonged to the family and got them out safely.
They estimate the damage to the home at $50,000-60,000.
Castillo said that although it did appear lightning may have caused the fire, he called in arson investigators to determine the cause and isolate the exact location where it started.