SAN ANTONIO – Firefighters battled two separate fires at an apartment complex early Wednesday on the city’s far West Side .
AN SUV burst into flames, and then minutes later, an apartment unit two buildings down caught fire. around 2 a.m. at the Bronco Apartments off Loop 410 and Bronco Lane.
Dimitri Files, an apartment resident, said this is not the first time a parked car at the complex has caught fire. He said his car was set on fire seven months ago in the same parking lot.
“I had it sitting right here where this gentlemen’s blue car is ... completely destroyed,” Files said.
Some residents said they heard a bang or explosion right before the parked SUV burst into flames.
“Someone heard a loud bang. I guess they set some kind of explosives in front of it were it ignited” Files said.
Files said this is the seventh car that has caught fire in the complex parking lot in the past three years.
He believes the fires are being set intentionally.
Files and his family were forced to stay at a hotel overnight when a vacant apartment unit caught fire, causing smoke damage to his unit and several others. Residents in that building were evacuated safely.
The San Antonio Fire Department was able to put out the fire quickly. Arson investigators were called out to determine if the apartment fire and SUV fire are related. A cause is under investigation.