SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio fire investigators are trying to determine what cause a family’s North side home to go up in flames early Tuesday morning.
The fire broke out around 3 a.m. at the home on Robinwood Lane, not far from Huebner Road and Bitters Road.
North Side home a total loss after fire, SAFD says
All four people inside managed to escape along with their pets. However, their home could not be saved.
“I’m stunned,” said John Peterson, who lives across the street. “You can look and see the damage. I mean, it’s gone. You can look right through the house.”
The fire burned through the roof of the home, and from one side to the other.
Peterson said his wife woke him up after noticing it. He then immediately jumped out of bed and saw the flames, himself, as he went outside.
“I mean, they were well above the trees. Whoosh!,” he said. “They were billowing out. Just massive.”
Immediately after finding his neighbors huddled in their car, Peterson said he opened up his home to them and took them out of the cold.
Later, other friends arrived at the scene, trying to determine what the family needed on a more long-term basis.
Three women who said they worked at Churchill High School, where one of the family members is a student, discussed plans to collect donations and clothing for them.
For now, Peterson said the family has gone to stay with relatives.
A spokesman for the San Antonio Fire Department says while the cause of the exact fire is still under investigation, it may have started outside the home. He said witnesses who called 911 reported seeing fire in the backyard at first, then spreading to the home.