BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Home never felt as good as it does now for some south Bexar County residents who evacuated due to a large grassfire on Tuesday.
According to firefighters, the fire began Tuesday afternoon in a backyard on Silver Mountain Drive near Loop 1604 and Applewhite Road when a controlled burn got out of control.
The fire quickly spread. Bexar County Emergency Services District #2 Assistant Fire Chief Mark Montgomery said Wednesday that the fire actually encompassed 262 acres.
>>Bexar County Fire Marshal says he’ll suggest countywide burn ban after Silver Mountain Fire
Approximately 30 families in the area left their homes on Tuesday, unsure where the flames might be heading.
“It was a scary thing,” Sylvia Ortiz said after returning home Wednesday morning. “We’ve been out here. I was just telling my son — for 27 years — and this has never happened.”
Ortiz said she was heading home on Tuesday when she noticed the thick smoke in the sky.
By the time she made it to her front door, through a line of fire trucks, Ortiz had just enough time to grab people, pets and property before getting back on the road.
“Pictures I have of my late son that passed: that’s the first thing that I grabbed,” Ortiz said. “Also, you know, the little fur babies.”
Ortiz spent a sleepless night with relatives, wondering if she would find her home still standing.
In the back of her mind was another grassfire, about 10 miles away from her, that caused major destruction earlier this year.
In March, the fire near the Bexar-Atascosa County line burned approximately 40 homes and buildings.
Firefighters remained in the area all night long on Tuesday to make sure there was no repeat of March.
“The fire did grow overnight due to winds,” Montgomery said. “There was one barn involved.”
He said there was no damage to any of homes.
Montgomery said a firefighter was also treated for heat exhaustion but was expected to recover.
“I think that the first responders did an amazing job,” Ortiz said. “I mean, every house on Silver Mountain was saved.”
Montgomery said it was good planning that saved the homes.
He said the fire district has special teams of firefighters and equipment that are always ready to handle large fires like this.
“That’s probably the best thing that the area has done,” Montgomery said. “We’ve pre-planned that type of event, and that’s what we responded to.”
When the Bexar County Commissioners Court reconvenes next week, county fire officials said that they will recommend a burn ban.
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