North Side fire displaces 20 residents

By Eva Ruth Moravec in The San Antonio Express-News
A burning candle caused a two-alarm fire that destroyed a North Side apartment building and displaced 20 residents early Wednesday morning. San Antonio firefighters were called to the Countryside Apartments in the 900 block of Bitters Road around 3:40 a.m. One resident had to be rescued from the burning building’s roof, two residents sustained minor injuries and a dog perished in the fire, said Batallion Chief Brooke Hildreth.

Neighbors said the dog’s owners had recently moved out and were coming back for their pet Wednesday morning. They arrived to the complex too late, and were devastated, said Lisa Campion, whose daughter and son-in-law were awakened by the barking dog when the fire started.

“It’s devastating that the dog died,” she said, “but the dog’s what woke my kids and grandkids up.”

Darlene Smith said Jesus woke her up in time to awake her children, 16-year-old Khadija and 17-year-old Rashid. The family relocated to San Antonio from Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina, and Smith joked that the family gets new wardrobes every few years.

“They’re going to get us a different apartment, but we can’t go to work, or to school,” she said. “And all my Christmas gifts…”

In total, the fire caused an estimated $300,000 in damages. Apartment management and the American Red Cross will be assisting residents whose homes were affected with new housing, Hildreth said.

It was the second two-alarm fire Hildreth’s crew worked during its shift, she said. Around 11 p.m. Tuesday, a fire caused by a cigarette that was left burning started at the Arbor Hill Apartments in the 200 block of Heimer Road. No one was injured in Tuesday night’s fire, which caused an estimated $250,000 in damages and also displaced residents, she said.

“We’re ready to go home,” Hildreth said before passing the duties of being in command on.