Two buildings in San Antonio face demolition after fires; one decision is finalized, while another awaits review.
SAN ANTONIO — One historic home is now slated for demolition in east San Antonio, and on the north side, a decision is pending at another site after two devastating fires in the past few days.
Mando says his family was getting ready for church when they heard a commotion outside early Sunday morning.
He said he was shocked when he looked out and saw flames had already consumed the attic area of an apartment building next door.
“At first I heard a lot of screaming and I opened my patio door and saw that whole second story up in flames,” Mando said, adding “There were maybe two SAPD officers that were on site and they were trying to make sure everybody was out. I could hear the sirens of the approaching fire department.”
Fire officials said the call for help came at 7:40 a.m. from 400 West Bitters at the Blair at Bitters Apartments.
Within three minutes, the first fire truck to respond reported pulling out of their station to the sight of heavy smoke showing.
They immediately asked for an upgraded response to get more manpower headed their way. Three minutes later, they radioed that fire was already through the roof of the two-story building all the way at the back of the complex. As they moved trucks and people into place, they began work on an evacuation plan for everyone in harm’s way.
Fire Department spokesman Joe Arrington said they were able to gain the upper hand quickly. “One person was evaluated and treated on scene for minor smoke inhalation,” Arrington said, adding “At least half of the fire building will be a total loss and all residents from the impacted building will also be displaced.”
As of late Monday, no cause had been established, but the city’s Development Services Department was in the process of evaluating whether the entire building needs to be demolished.
At another fire scene from Friday evening, that decision has already been made.
A home in the Dignowity Hill Historic District, just east of I-37 downtown, is already headed for an emergency demolition.
The house, in the 500 block of Nolan Street, was unoccupied when the fire started. Neighbors said the owner, a woman in her 90s, had recently moved to some sort of care facility so nobody was home at the time.
The home is less than 300 feet from Fire Station 1 on Cherry Street. The incident commander said a firefighter who was exercising by walking in the area spotted the smoke and ran to his station to sound the call for help around 5:00 p.m. The building is being called a total loss, with several structural collapses happening during the fight.
The commander said two firefighters were taken to the hospital to be checked out after falling debris landed on them. A fire spokesman said they had minor injuries.
The house had no natural gas service, but did have electrical service, and the commander noted there were wind conditions at the time, with gusts up to 28 mph.
By Saturday morning, inspectors had tagged the structure as a candidate for demolition. A bright red placard on the front porch declared: “This structure has been deemed a dangerous premises by the code enforcement division of the Department of Development Services.” Monday, a spokesman for the division said demolition will be moving forward.
There’s no word on exactly when the action will take place but there is a built in 96-hour deadline to the ordinance.