SAN ANTONIO — The heartbreaking job of recovery is underway in north San Antonio as 16 units of the ICON Apartments burned in a fire around 4 a.m.
First arriving firefighters said they pulled up to see flames shooting through the roof and people trapped on balconies trying to escape from the fast-moving blaze on Patricia near West Avenue.
Incident commander Brian Lee said they called for a second alarm because conditions were so dangerous.
Lee said “When we have heavy fire involved on these buildings when we arrive, we've got to figure out a way to evacuate the building and stop the fire at the same time so we needed supply lines in,” adding the fire did not give up easily “Our first in crew elected to do a quick hit and contain the fire. That was not successful so they immediately went to evacuation.”
Even with a hard fought effort, Lee said Building 2 is considered a total loss, but they were able to stop the fire from jumping to additional buildings in the complex.
Lee and others said they heard reports of at least one person jumping from a balcony to escape, but that report was unconfirmed.
There were no injuries to firefighters, Lee said, adding “We ended up transporting two patients to local hospitals in stable condition.”
The extent of their injuries was not confirmed at the time.
For apartment residents nearby, it was a very scary way to wake up.
One man, who didn’t want to share his name, said “When I wake up, I look outside my window and the fire is outside my window and it's just orange.
Everything is orange! And everything is just white and there's chaotic sirens and people telling move!” The man added as a person who recently moved to San Antonio from a small town, it was an unsettling time.
“I am from a smaller town and this big city stuff is crazy. I've never ever experienced anything like this. I have a bunch of videos to take back to my family to tell them what I experienced,” he said.
Christopher Farley, who lives one building away, said he woke up to the sound of someone banging on his window.
“I didn't think anything of it at the time, then they banged again and I opened the door and said 'what's going on' and one of the police officers told me that the building next door to where I live caught fire so we had to evacuate with everyone else,” Farley said.
Farley said he feels for those who lost so much. “It was pretty bad. I believe they lost everything. That's what it looks like. I can only imagine what they are going through right now,” Farley said.
A representative from the American Red Cross said they are providing assistance to victims.
The Code Compliance division of the city is waiting for the fire department to release the location from a fire watch, concerned about re-kindles. They said they may have a decision on Friday about whether to proceed with an emergency demolition order for the badly damaged building.