Residents are rebuilding their lives after a devastating fire destroyed an apartment building. The Red Cross and community partners are providing critical support.
SAN ANTONIO — More than 30 people who lost virtually everything they own are beginning the long, hard job of rebuilding their lives after a wind-blown blast furnace of a fire destroyed an entire building with 24 apartments Saturday night.
The damage to the building was so bad they started demolishing what was left while the building was still smoking.
Michael Rodriguez said he is more fortunate than many of his neighbors because he was on his way out to do laundry and was able to salvage a few things.
“I got lucky. I got a basket of clothes. I was going to do laundry with and my backpack that had my laptop in it and that was it,” Rodriguez said.
Still, the Army veteran said, the loss is heavy.
“My whole military career up in flames. Everything. Childhood mementos. My kids’ pictures. Stuff like that can’t be replaced,” Rodriguez lamented.
He says his immediate neighbor was left with the shorts and sandals he was wearing, but everything else was lost, including baby items he and his pregnant wife had been collecting in advance of the birth.
The neighbor said he was left with no wallet or car keys, and first responders wouldn’t give him access to his apartment because the danger was too great.
Rodriguez said from the beginning, help was at hand though.
“A lot of our neighbors all got together and ‘hey, we got some shoes. I got some blankets, so we got some good neighbors here,” Rodriguez said.
The Red Cross had volunteers on site within one hour of the call for help.
Dr. Daniel Martinez is the executive director of the Greater San Antonio Chapter of the American Red Cross.
“The residents who were displaced by this fire, 24 units, about 35 individuals were impacted,” Dr. Martinez said. “And that’s a lot, that’s a lot of individuals that we’re there to provide comfort, to provide care and to help them figure out what those next steps look like in terms of immediate needs for the night as well as to start the process of recovery.”
Volunteers with the organization were at the scene while the fire fight was still going on.
“Fortunately in San Antonio we have an amazing partnership with the San Antonio Fire Department, so we were actually able to arrive within one hour of the fire being reported,” Martinez said.
Getting a fast start is critical. Martinez said, “When there’s a major impact like this, we call ourselves the second responders, right, the firefighters, the first responders, then we’re immediately on scene to start helping clients and provide casework.”
Martinez said the needs of each person vary, so they provide direct financial support.
“Someone may have lost medication and need that expedited overnight. Someone may have lost glasses. Someone may need some resources for the night, whatever that looks like, that’s just step one,” Martinez said. “In Bexar County in the last fiscal year we gave out over $200,000 in direct client assistance, so financial support is absolutely needed. […] One of the first things that we’ll do is provide them with a client assistance card which has about $650 and we do that to empower every client to do what makes most sense for them.”
Martinez said other community partners can provide needed goods.
“We work very well with partner agencies who do collect items that are needed like United Way, Catholic Charities, Texas Diaper Bank and the San Antonio Food Bank,” Martinez said, adding “Those are great entities if individuals want to provide direct support but for us, we are there to provide monetary support. So in order for us to do that, we need the generosity of our community.”
Because residential fires are one of the biggest needs they serve, Martinez said they are always recruiting people who want to volunteer time to help fire victims. He also said fire prevention education is critically important and that all families should have and practice a disaster plan, along with having working smoke alarms.
The San Antonio Fire Department maintains a website with life saving tips and videos for adults and children in English and Spanish.
Martinez said, “Little things sometimes that we take for granted or don’t think of are major causes, so we’re always focused on prevention and then response when we need to be there and that’s what we’re here for.”
Some residents said complex management moved as many people as they could into vacant units on site.
As for the cause, the fire department said people reported the flames were first spotted from a second or third floor balcony, but the damage was so bad they weren’t able to establish an exact cause.
The city’s Code Compliance division has already been to the site.
Their posted sign says the apartment complex has until March 23 to remove all of the debris from the site.
Managers surveying the damage said that work will begin as soon as they receive clearance from their insurance carrier.