SAN ANTONIO – After three deadly fires in three days in the San Antonio area, firefighters are trying to get out the message about fire prevention.
RELATED>>> Man killed in house fire on South Side, SAFD says
“This is unfortunately a reality when these cold temperatures set in our area,” said Fire Chief Commander Stephen Ruston with the San Antonio Fire Department. “We have several different causes. A lot of times, it’s space heaters.”
Ruston says it’s equally as important to use those space heaters safely to make sure all homes have working smoke detectors.
Arson investigators are still working to determine what sparked the latest deadly fire.
The fire happened around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday at a home on Schley Avenue near Interstate 37.
Ruston says crews at a fire station a few blocks away from the home were first alerted to trouble when someone rang their doorbell, then disappeared.
He said those firefighters then smelled smoke and, moments later, heard a tone from dispatch telling them to go to the home to fight the fire.
Although they found flames and smoke coming from the home, firefighters were able to put out the fire quickly, Ruston said.
However, moments into fighting the fire, he said, they found out more than just the home was in danger.
“The arrival of some relatives asking about a potential victim on the inside, so our crews pushed in,” Ruston said.
Once they made their way inside the home, firefighters found the victim dead in a back room.
Investigators believe that the general area of the home is also where the fire started.
Lorena Casanova noticed the commotion as she was driving to work.
“When I saw the house that got burned, I stopped. And then to find out,” she said, trailing off and fighting back tears.
Casanova said she instantly knew who the victim was even though he had not been officially identified.
She described him as a long-time customer and a friend.
“He would come here every day, the sweetest person you could ever meet,” Casanova said.
The victim is the third person locally to die in a house fire this week.
Tuesday afternoon, crews fighting a fire at a home on Montezuma Street near S. Calaveras St. found the body of a 61-year-old man.
The previous day, an 11-year-old boy died in a fire on Spanish Grant Street in South Bexar County.
So far, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has not released the names of any of the victims.