Police said a 34-year-old man is in custody, accused of starting the fire.
SAN ANTONIO — When the Solana Apartments on Eisenhauer Road caught fire Monday night around 10:30 p.m., San Antonio firefighters from Station 24 on Austin Highway were just over one mile away.
As they rolled up on the scene, they immediately asked dispatch to upgrade the response to a second alarm, as they reported a large fire in a two-story building.
Recounting the moments she had to grab her family and evacuate, a resident named Ceanna said, “It was very scary! It went from zero to 100 very, very quickly!”
Ceanna said while they made it out safely, she did ingest too much smoke as neighbors helped each other escape.
“I had to go to the hospital. I had some carbon monoxide poisoning but I’m okay,” Ceanna said.
Fire officials said four victims were taken to the hospital with fall injuries they sustained when they tried to get out of the burning building by jumping off a balcony or out of windows.
Tuesday, hours after the fire, one upstairs window was still marked by bloodstains where someone apparently broke a window to jump to safety.
Two of the four people hurt, fire officials said, also had burn injuries and one firefighter also went to the hospital with minor burn injuries to their arms.
The fire incident commander on scene said the danger started when a 34-year-old man ended an argument with his girlfriend by beating the woman, locking her in the apartment and setting the place on fire.
San Antonio Police said the man ran from the scene but they believe they arrested him a short distance away.
Fire officials said the man was injured and taken to the hospital so his name and charge(s) have not been released yet.
Ceanna said she is grateful to the apartment management team for immediately helping everyone recover, as most of their possessions were ruined by smoke damage.
“They helped us relocate the night of the fire and even now they’re helping us get a new permanent solution,” Ceanna said. “There’s not much we can do but at least our children are safe.”
Fire officials said the arrested man may face arson and other charges as the investigation continues.