‘We lost everything,’ Mother of 3 fights to keep family afloat after fire destroys North Side home

The family’s home was one of two destroyed on Chipping Drive earlier this month.

SAN ANTONIO – A county fire destroyed two homes, leaving at least one family struggling to get by.

Ajanique Williams and her three kids have been hopping from hotel to hotel since they lost everything on May 12th. The fire burned all of their belongings.

Now, Williams is burning through money and she said she doesn’t have enough to provide for her 14, 11 and 6-year-old kids.

“We lost everything. Looking at the house… I don’t even have words for it. I want to start crying but I’m on camera,” said Williams.

The homes were located in the 8000 block of Chipping Drive.

Williams said she and her family have spent the last 15 years at the home. She tried staying optimistic, saying the materialistic things can be replaced but followed by saying things with sentimental value will be greatly missed.

“Everything you could think of -- birth certificates… material stuff we can always get back but sentimental value stuff we can’t,” said Williams. “When you have a baby, they give you that bracelet on their foot, that sonogram, my babies trophies, his rings.”

The fire is forcing Williams to start from scratch. She estimates she’s spent nearly a thousand dollars in close to two weeks on day-to-day purchases like food, clothes, hygiene and hotel stays.

“Spending money that we don’t have and that we didn’t expect to spend. We’ve been room to room… go buy clothes like every day,” said Williams.

Williams said times are tough, but her kids need her to be strong. Amid the chaos of trying to get back on her feet, Williams said she still has mom duties.

“Getting them back and forth to school and he’s in sports so he practices Monday through Friday… balancing stuff out while going through this,” said Williams. “They have to stay in school. They’re in school. They’re going to go to school every day no matter what we got going on. They have to finish school.”

Two Bexar County fire stations, Windcrest, Universal City and JBSA fire all responded to the fire call on May 12th.

Bexar County ESD 10 Chief Robert Hogan tells us the fire is still under investigation. They are still trying to locate one person who they need to speak with.

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About the Authors:

John Paul Barajas is a reporter at KSAT 12. Previously, he worked at KRGV 5 in the Rio Grande Valley. He has a degree from the University of Houston. In his free time, he likes to get a workout in, spend time on the water and check out good eats and drinks.

Adam Barraza is a photojournalist at KSAT 12 and an El Paso native. He interned at KVIA, the local ABC affiliate, while still in high school. He then moved to San Antonio and, after earning a degree from San Antonio College and the University of the Incarnate Word, started working in news. He’s also a diehard Dodgers fan and an avid sneakerhead.