SAN ANTONIO – Nearly 30 years of memories were taken away from the Alanis family in less than 10 minutes.
“There’s no way to rehab this place,” homeowner Jerry Alanis said. “The wind just rolled up, and it just went out of control really quick.”
A fire on Tuesday burned three houses on Lamar Street just east of downtown, and the Alanis family home was one of them. The family said the city has deemed the structure to be unsafe. They’re expecting it to be demolished at some point over the next two days.
At the scene, the San Antonio Fire Department said the fire started at one home that appeared to be vacant. But because of the weather, the wind carried the flames to neighboring homes.
Alex and Jerry Alanis’ family were there when the fire spread to their home.
“We saw the wall fall, and it caught our house on fire,” Jerry Alanis said.
Before the demolition, Alex Alanis said they tried to save what they could.
“Some documents and some jewelry here or there,” Alex Alanis said. “But that’s about it.”
As this family fundraises to get back on their feet, the people of Dignowity Hill are fed up that another vacant structure caught on fire.
“It could have all been prevented,” Julia Domaradzka said. “That’s the thing that makes us as neighbors very upset.”
Domaradzka said the house that first went up in flames appeared to be unsafe. She said she had reported it to the city multiple times before the Tuesday fire.
“To have the Alanis family be forced out in this kind of a way is tragic,” Domaradzka said. “They don’t have the resources to easily recover from this, and who would? 30 years in a home, and then all of a sudden, it’s gone.”
The Alanis family said they expect their home to be demolished by the end of the weekend.
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