SW Side home without working utilities destroyed by fire; nearby travel trailer heavily damaged, SAFD says

SAN ANTONIO – A house fire is raising suspicions among San Antonio fire investigators as they’re trying to figure out how it started when there were no working utilities and no one was home early Thursday morning.

The fire was called in just after 4:30 a.m. in the 200 block of Elmo Avenue, not far from South Zarzamora Street and West Malone on the city’s Southwest Side.

Firefighters said when they arrived, the found flames coming from the single-story home. The fire has since been put out.

A battalion chief said the homes on either side of the house also sustained some minor damage to the exteriors. The house where the fire started has been destroyed. A travel trailer parked next to the home also sustained heavy damage, fire officials said.

KSAT 12 spoke to some residents who say they were asleep in the trailer when they woke to notice the fire. They managed to get out safely.

The house where the fire started had no working utilities, firefighters said. They initially thought the home was vacant, but later found out a woman had been staying there.

The woman who lives inside the home said she had not been at the house since about 5 p.m. yesterday evening. It’s unclear exactly what sparked the fire. They do however, think it may have started in the living room.

According to the San Antonio Fire Department website, as many as 13 units answered the call.