SAN ANTONIO – Though his efforts were in vain, a West Side man says he’s glad he tried to save his elderly neighbor from a fire Saturday afternoon.
Daniel Soto was bringing in his animals when another man in their cluster of three plex and duplex homes pointed out the smoke coming from the window of their 81-year-old neighbor’s unit on South Smith Street, near the corner of Guadalupe Street.
Soto said the window was closed, but the smoke was forced out through a crack like a vent of steam. After putting their hands to the window and finding it hot, the men broke it.
“Smoke came out and we said, oh no, we need we need to open the, you know, the door,” Soto said.
Soto said his neighbor’s brother brought over an axe and they busted down the door. Though they couldn’t see through the smoke, Soto said he knew the man’s bed was near the entrance.
“I looked for, I mean, not looked, but feel for his legs. So I grabbed it, and this other gentleman grabbed the other side, and we just pulled him out,” Soto said.
Despite their efforts, the man inside the home had already died when they pulled him out, and Soto said he didn’t see any flames by that point.
A San Antonio Fire Department spokesman said a mattress had been on fire inside the home.
Soto said he was “absolutely” glad that he and his neighbor tried to save the older man.
“Anybody would do that,” he said.
The 81-year-old, who still hasn’t been officially named, had been on the property when Soto moved in. He’d been coming outside less, though, which Soto believed was due to his health.
“I sympathize with the family because yes, we all knew we have to go, but not this way,” he said.
Arson Investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire.