Northeast-side neighbors claim one vacant property will bring the entire neighborhood down.
SAN ANTONIO — Yvonne said she never heard the fire trucks scream to a halt near her house Thursday night, so she was very relieved when a neighbor banged on her door and rousted her family, saving them from the danger of a fire that destroyed the abandoned house next door.
The fire, in the 4200 block of Tropical Drive on the northeast side of San Antonio, was called in around 8:30 p.m. When the first arriving fire company pulled up, they reported seeing flames shooting through the roof throughout the house, which was built 64 years ago.
Another close neighbor, Cameron, said the house has been a threat for years, as the absentee owner has failed to secure it.
“Unfortunately, I got used to it. I hate to say that, but it’s just been an ongoing thing for a while,” Cameron said. “I see cops outside because there’s homeless that like to go inside, that like to, I guess, stay overnights.”
Yvonne said the house attracts trouble because the owner has not cleaned or secured the structure.
“The house is full of everything—personal property and furniture, he left everything,” Yvonne said.
Yvonne said she wished the city could have done more to solve the problem.
“I came out one morning and the homeless people were digging in all his stuff. They ransacked the whole house,” Yvonne said, adding she feels angry and frustrated. “I feel like, to a certain extent, the city’s hands are tied, because that’s what they tell you. They said it’s a process and it takes a long time.”
She says she’s been asking for help for about three years.
“I gave them his phone number and everything,” she said of the owner.
Yvonne believes the unwanted visitors could be dangerous to people and their pets.
“I’ve had three cats in one week that died,” she said, adding she can’t prove her theory that the animals were poisoned, but it seems likely. “I know that there are cats that would go in where the glass door was broken, the sliding door, and I lost three cats in the last week.”
Yvonne said it’s worrisome.
“The vet said he’s not ruling out poison, but I don’t have the money to get all them tests.”
San Antonio police have been called to the home a few times over the years.
In 2025, there were two burglary calls and one report of a suspicious person. So far this year, there were requests to check out a suspicious person, another call reporting suspicious activity and one request for a patrol by the day before the fire.
The city’s policy on dangerous buildings does allow for emergency demolitions when there is a clear and immediate threat to life, safety or property.
Because the roof of the structure mostly collapsed in the fire, the commander said he would be recommending that the building should be brought down.
The city’s Code Enforcement division claims there have been only two enforcement calls in the past 12 months, both for overgrown grass.
They say it’s important that if you see something, say something. Don’t just assume someone else is reporting the problem.
More cold weather is coming and that’s when the danger of fire increases.
Reporting an abandoned or dangerous structure takes just a few simple keystrokes on a keyboard. Here’s how to report these abandoned structures.