SAN ANTONIO – Smoke detectors may have saved the lives of three members of a family when their Northwest Side home went up in flames early Tuesday morning.
San Antonio firefighters say the devices are what alerted the two adults and one child to the fire shortly before 4 a.m.
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When fire crews arrived in the 7100 block of Valewood View, not far from Bandera Road, they immediately got to work, trying to knock down the fire.
“The initial crews reported smoke on the front side and flames on the back side,” said Battalion Chief Terrence Lowe, with SAFD.
It took only minutes for them to put out the fire.
Valewood View house fire image. (KSAT)
Lowe says the homeowners had tried their best to do so before firefighters arrived.
“They initially started to extinguish it with their own extinguisher, but they ran out with that,” he said.
The family was able to run out of the home safely.
However, firefighters had to go in and rescue two pets, a cat and turtle.
Lowe says it appears the fire started outside the home, on the back side of it.
He believes the family’s efforts to keep their pets warm may have sparked it.
“There was a heater on the back side exterior for those pets that were outside and that possibly could be the culprit,” Lowe said.
The home, itself, was left with extensive damage.
Firefighters said the fire got into the attic and spread throughout the home.
It was unclear where the family would end up, but immediately they received some help from neighbors.