SAN ANTONIO — James Borum is tired of worrying about apartment fires at Westwood Plaza Apartments. The complex is along a common route for the area's homeless population and has become a frequent target for squatters. Now residents are working together to keep an eye on the property and try to prevent further damage.
The latest fire happened just two weeks ago.
"They are breaking into apartments and starting fires," Borum said. "They (management) are boarding up the buildings but they still break in. Some of the units don't get boarded up at all."
The San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD) told KENS 5 they've responded to 11 fires at the apartment complex since the beginning of 2020 and seven of those fires started in vacant units.
Borum said he contacted KENS 5 because he doesn't know what else to do.
"I called KENS 5 because I'm scared. I'm afraid that the building is going to catch on fire and I want people to know about it," Borum said.
KENS 5 started investigating the issue.
When KENS 5 visited the property two weeks ago, the current acting property manager, Gloria Farias, told us they are aware of the issues and have been working hard to address them. Farias is also the executive director of nonprofit Pico Union Housing which oversees management at this apartment complex and five others in the city.
Farias said she has personally been working at Westwood Plaza Apartments for the last three weeks. She also said she had recently fired the previous managers and is working with the City of San Antonio to address multiple issues.
KENS 5 asked Farias what she could do to prevent more fires in the future. Farias said their maintenance team was trying to secure their vacant apartments and said they need help from the San Antonio Police Department.
"If you walk with me right now (you will see) we paid $4000 out of my pocket this weekend to board them (units) up and put bigger boards and more, harder, screws and that doesn't even work," she said.
KENS 5 toured the property with Farias and did see some units that had been secured with heavy boards. At the same time, KENS 5 also saw multiple units that had not been secured or looked only partially secured. Some of those unsecured units were in the same building that just caught fire, according to Farias.
KENS 5 asked Farias how long it would take to secure those units.
"This will happen before the end of the week. They are going to work on Saturday too," Farias said.
KENS 5 then followed up with the San Antonio Police Department about Farias's claim and returned to the property seven days later.
When KENS 5 followed up with SAPD, Sgt. Washington Moscoso said the department had already been assisting the apartment complex since 2014. He said officers in that area already make a habit of driving by the complex on patrols and sent a statement about SAPD's efforts:
The SAPD is very familiar with the Westwood Apartments. As part of their daily assignments, the West SAFFE (San Antonio Fear Free Environment) Unit goes to the Westwood Apartments to address various issues and concerns. This location has been the subject of three previous COSA DART (Dangerous Assessment Response Team) warrants which have uncovered various violations and concerns that need addressing. Those DART warrants were executed on 9/29/2014, 3/6/2018 and most recently on 8/1/2023. Additionally, patrol officers from all the shifts patrol through the location as time permits.
Then, when KENS 5 returned to Westwood Plaza Apartments seven days later, we found many of the apartments still unsecured. In fact, some of the doorways looked exactly the same as the previous week.
KENS 5 asked Farias, on camera, why the work wasn't done despite their promise to finish it "over the weekend."
"It didn't happen that much. We tried our very best. We only had three or four employees that could work the weekend," Farias said.
Farias then said they had focused their efforts on other buildings, which KENS 5 had not seen, and she said all vacant units would be secured after another week.
"I'm not leaving until they are all secure," Farias said.
Meanwhile, the apartment complex is also seeing pressure from the City of San Antonio to fix a myriad of issues.
Amin Tohmaz, the city's Interim Director of Development Services, said the Farias would be meeting with the San Antonio City Attorney to discuss those problems. He said the city would request Westwood Plaza Apartments sign a specific agreement to fix issues and possibly increase security. Tohmaz told KENS 5 San Antonio's Code Enforcement had been working with the complex since 2018.
"In the last year or so our City Attorney's Office has been working with their attorney trying to get them to a compliance agreement," Tohmaz said. "They list adding lighting, adding cameras potentially, hiring peace officers to keep tenants safe. One of the biggest issues is they have vacancies and when they don't secure it appropriately vagrants can get it. "
Tohmaz said the complex also has multiple other code violations for the condition of stairs, guard rails and landings. He said there was also electrical hazards, and water leaks, and damage to walls. KENS 5 also observed damaged windows at the property.
Tohmaz said if the complex refuses the agreement with the city and fails to address the violations, the city could eventually shut the complex down.
"That would be the last resort," Tohmaz said. "That's why we have been meeting with the owner on a regular basis...to try and find a solution and get a resolution."
KENS 5 will be following up with San Antonio Development Services following that meeting.
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