SAN ANTONIO — Eddie Lozano had secured the proper city permits to begin remodeling a building west of downtown. But a massive fire decimated those plans after seven months of preparation.
“We were going to make it into a five-unit apartment complex,” Lozano said, who has been a realtor for 20 years. “I was shocked bro. We did everything that the city required us. They asked us to board it up, we boarded it up.”
Firefighters responded to the 1600 block of Buena Vista St. just before 4 p.m. Tuesday where they found several apartment engulfed in flames. Multiple people were displaced from apartment buildings impacted by the fire. One of the structures was vacant. What remains is a pile of demolished debris surrounded by a chain link fence.
San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD) officials have deemed the fire suspicious, noting there were reports of homeless people in the vicinity around the time when the fire began.
It’s not unheard of for fires, especially in vacant buildings, to be triggered by homeless people.
In July, firefighters battled a blaze at a vacant home in the 800 block of West Poplar north of downtown.
Fire crews said transients seeking shelter may have somehow started the fire, which scorched two homes.
Vacant structure fires have increased over the past couple years in San Antonio, according to SAFD officials.
Vacant house fires have risen by an average of 10% every year since 2021. Officials said 29% percent of total fires have taken place in vacant structures as of July 31, 2023.
While it’s not officially known who and what caused the Buena Vista fire, Lozano knows there’s an issue with homelessness across the city that needs to be addressed because it’s costing real estate investors big time.
“We had to continually call the police. There’s a lot of vagrants and a lot of homeless people running around here,” Lozano said. “If they don’t want to stay here and behave then what do we do with them. The investors don’t have the money to go in there and fix things up."
The City of San Antonio has proposed to use $17 million to assist the homeless community on top of the ongoing efforts to allocate bond funds to expand affordable housing.
Despite the destruction, Lozano is hopeful for the future. Lozano said the goal is to work with the investor to rebuild, but he'll consider installing fencing and armed security. The project could be finished by 2025.