SAN ANTONIO – Not only was Holly Courtney and her teenage son forced out of their apartment during a fire Tuesday night.
Courtney also said that thieves made their ordeal even worse.
>>1 hospitalized after fire at North Side apartment complex, SAFD says
Her apartment was one of eight units affected by the fire, which broke out around 9:30 p.m. at La Silva Apartments on Barrington Street, near Starcrest Drive.
“Mainly, the front door and the front window are damaged,” Courtney said. “Everything else has smoke damage.”
Courtney wasn’t home when the flames from an apartment downstairs and across the way from hers began lapping at her door.
Inside the apartment, though, was her 16-year-old son, all alone.
“The cops called me and said there was a fire, and my son was safe,” Courtney said. “So, I came as fast as I could.”
First responders rescued the teen from the home.
San Antonio firefighters said a second-floor resident jumped from his apartment and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
After returning to her home to collect what was left of her belongings on Wednesday morning, Courtney said she realized someone else had been there.
At some point after her son escaped the flames, she said someone went inside and stole from them.
“Stuff that was in drawers in my dresser was in my bed,” Courtney said. “I don’t understand why people do this. We’re already going through a hard time. Why would you do it?”
Courtney and her son told KSAT 12 News that they noticed immediately that two guitars and some video game supplies were missing from their apartment.
For them, this one fire was a double loss.
Neighbors, meanwhile, dealt with their own struggles as a result, mainly trying to figure out what to do next.
Courtney said the apartment complex’s management had offered to put her and her son into a different unit temporarily, but she chose to stay in a motel.
“It has no furniture. I need a bed,” Courtney said.
As of Wednesday morning, a public information officer for SAFD said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Although it appeared that some food left unattended on a stove may have sparked it.
A man claiming to live in the apartment where the fire started told KSAT 12 News on Wednesday morning that he had fallen asleep while cooking. He declined to speak on camera.
All eight apartments in the building appeared to have been affected by the fire in some way. Neighbors said at least two of those were already vacant.
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