SAN ANTONIO – A West Side home that burned down Tuesday night had been designated in 2014 as a historic landmark by the city of San Antonio. At the same time, neighbors say it also had become a nuisance.
"The vagrants, the homeless, the drug addicts, the prostitution took over," said Lettie Cortez, who lives next door to the now-destroyed property, located in the 2600 block of W. Houston Street. “It (used to be) a three-story beautiful home, built in the 1800s.”
Fire broke out there around 10 p.m. Tuesday, sending a huge fireball high into the air.
At its height, the fire threatened Cortez’s home, making a long-time fear a reality for her.
"I always thought it would go up in flames and I wouldn’t escape,” she said. “I was afraid my home wasn't going to escape.”
RELATED: Massive fire destroys West Side home
Firefighters managed to keep the fire from spreading. It took them all night and part of the morning to make sure the flames wouldn’t reignite.
After the flames were out, investigators brought in a cadaver dog to search the site for any victims.
“That canine found no human remains in there. So at the time, we're going off of that," said Joe Arrington, spokesman for the San Antonio Fire Department.
Arrington said arson investigators also would be using a dog to sniff out possible accelerants. Although the cause of the fire remains unknown, investigators do consider it suspicious, he said.
The house is located in District 1, which is overseen by Councilman Roberto Trevino.
He said his staff had spent nearly two years working to address the problems of vagrants and crime associated with the vacant house.
"To see this go up in flames is very, very unfortunate,” Trevino said. "The city is looking for ways to prevent these kinds of things from happening. This was, I think, one of the worst fears that the neighbors had. "
City records show about two dozen complaints about the property had been filed with the code enforcement office since 2014.
Ximena Copa-Wiggins, a spokeswoman for the development services department, said this year alone, the city has cleaned up the property five times.
Yesterday, the property owner was due to appear before a municipal court judge to address some of the violations. However, Copa-Wiggins said the owner’s attorney asked for an extension, saying that the home was due to be sold.
San Antonio police also have made frequent visits to that address.
Their records show officers responded to 49 calls since January 2016 for everything from drug-related activity to suspicious persons to burglary.
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SAPD Calls to Houston Street House since Jan. 2016