SAN ANTONIO — A man who lives near the scene of a devastating fire on Baltimore early Wednesday said the minutes leading up to the inferno were scary.
The man, who called himself Ralph, said he didn't go outside when he heard screaming nearby.
Ralph said "I heard arguing and yelling and one guy started cussing the other guy out, saying if I can't live here then nobody else will."
The confrontation, Ralph said, came just hours after a man who claimed to be the property owner had visited the site and told people that he would do whatever it takes to clear the building of the homeless people who had broken into the home to seek shelter.
Pointing to what remained of boarded up doors and windows, Ralph said he has watched for months as a steady stream of as many as 20 people took refuge in the 1940 home, which has been on the tax rolls at 4,241 square foot.
Ralph said, "Every day was constant, non-stop traffic in this alley and I called the police more than five times and every time the police would come in the people would leave."
Ralph said in October there was a large police action with many officers but the results of the raid were short lived.
"After they ran everybody out, an hour later, they looked like flies. They came back in," Ralph said.
Ralph said people who live in nearby buildings have watched a steady stream of drug trafficking and use, often in plain sight, day and night.
The charred remains of the building showed the owner had made attempts to secure the structure. Many doors and windows were covered in plywood, which firefighters had to remove to fight the fire, but Ralph said no matter what was done to keep people out, the onslaught was just too great.
City Code officials have been unable to provide background on the compliance history of the building, but they did provide the following background about how the system is supposed to work:
When an unsecured vacant structure is identified:
- City will properly notify the owner to abate by posting a notice of violation on the structure
- Sends a notice to the owner on record per Bexar County Appraisal
- If the owner fails to comply, City will secure structure and place a lien for charges plus $180.00 administrative fee.
Because the damage to the structure was so complete, the city did take immediate steps to demolish what was left teetering after the fire.
A fire spokesman said before they knocked the building down, they did inspect the rubble with a drone and with dogs trained in detecting human remains to make sure there no victims hidden in the debris.
By day's end Wednesday, the former two-story home was reduced to a smelly, smoldering pile of rubble.
While arson investigators did spend time at the site, because the damage was so complete, a ruling has not yet been made on the cause of the fire.
A ruling is also pending on a vacant house fire on Torreon Street in west San Antonio, that may have been started by homeless people trying to get warm.
Firefighters had to remove plywood from doors and windows at that structure as well to fight a smoky fire at about 2:30 a.m. Friday.
Fire officials on scene said they have responded to the house in the 600 block several times. There were no injuries reported in that blaze.