More than 30 residents of NE Side apartment complex displaced due to fire

Fire occurred just after 1 a.m. at Alamo Park Apartments

SAN ANTONIO – More than 30 residents of a Northeast Side apartment complex have been displaced after a fire started on the balcony of a three-story building overnight, San Antonio firefighters said Wednesday.

The fire was reported just after 1 a.m. at the Alamo Park Apartments in the 2300 block of Austin Highway, not far from Loop 410 and Perrin Beitel Road.

Firefighters said they arrived to find heavy flames showing from the balcony of the building. The building was quickly evacuated just before the fire caused the roof to partially collapse, fire officials said.

"The roof collapsed, the third floor is totally destroyed, and first and second floors are severely damaged with an extreme amount of water in there," Woody Woodard, a spokesman for the San Antonio Fire Department said.

Investigators said they believe the fire originated in a water heater closet that was on the second floor  near the balcony of one of the apartments.

"There are outdoor closets on the patio with a water heater and washer and dryer so the fire originated in that area," Woodard said.

Twenty-six adults and five children have been displaced by the fire, with no reports of injury. 

Woodard said fire eventually spread to the third floor, affecting 24 apartments in all.

"This was an extremely dangerous strong fire, you can see it’s flat but it’s not supposed to look like that, the roof collapsed in on itself," Woodard said.

Arson investigators have been called to help with the investigation. A complete damage estimate has not yet been determined.

"A lot of decision making (was made) in terms of going offensive, meaning going into the building -- and defensive, which means fighting it from the outside. We had a platform, we have a ladder in there, so we were shooting it from above and we were shooting it from the outside when we had to," Woodard said.

As many as 29 fire units were called to scene. Both the San Antonio Police Department and the San Antonio Fire Department answered the call.

 


About the Authors:

Ben Spicer is a digital journalist who works the early morning shift for KSAT.

Max Massey is the GMSA weekend anchor and a general assignments reporter. Max has been live at some of the biggest national stories out of Texas in recent years, including the Sutherland Springs shooting, Hurricane Harvey and the manhunt for the Austin bomber. Outside of work, Max follows politics and sports, especially Penn State, his alma mater.