SAN ANTONIO – A brush fire that broke out Sunday afternoon burned too close to home for people who live in the area.
Firefighters from the City of San Antonio and Bexar County Emergency Services District #11 worked together to battle the blaze, which broke out in a heavily wooded area within both jurisdictions near Interstate 10 and Foster Road.
The flames burned across a wide area, heading close to homes in the Miller Ranch subdivision.
In some cases, they left the fences behind people’s homes scorched.
“It did get within ten feet of our fence,” said Paul Deboer, who lives on Foster Bend. “The smoke was very, very heavy. There were a lot of ashes flying over us.”
While Deboer’s home escaped damage, the flames lapped at the fence behind the home next door, which is owned by his son’s family.
He convinced his daughter-in-law to point out singe marks that the fire created along her fence.
In other sections, the smoke and flames turned the cedar wood’s natural color to a pale shade of grey.
Deboer said he moved into the neighborhood last summer, expecting it to be a peaceful place to live.
Instead, this was the second time he had to worry about losing his home to a brush fire.
“It was during July that there was another fire back there, not nearly as serious as this one,” he said. “But nonetheless, it catches fire, and it’s so smoky too.”
He and other neighbors worry this won’t be the last time. They say with the hot, dry weather, it’s only a matter of time before another fire breaks out among all the brush and trees on that stretch of undeveloped land.
“I think the first thing they have to do is to create some access back there so firemen can get back,” Deboer said.
The plot where the fire started Sunday appears to be privately owned. Monica Ramos, a spokeswoman for Bexar County, said it would be up to the property owner to make any changes.
KSAT left a phone message Monday afternoon for the listed owner, but he has not responded so far.
As of Monday afternoon, fire investigators had not determined the cause of the fire.
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