SAN ANTONIO – Firefighters who were battling a fire at a liquor store in far South Bexar County Monday morning had several things working against them.
They said all the alcohol inside the business, located on South Loop 1604 near Pleasanton Road, added fuel to the fire.
Related: Electrical fire destroys liquor store in South Bexar County, fire officials say
In addition, they were slowed down a bit by devices that were meant to keep out intruders.
"It was tough," said Battalion Chief Justin Petroshus with Bexar County 2 Fire District. "There were some burglar bars and everything on all the windows and some of the doors."
Once they found a way around all the heavy metal surrounding the building, they had to deal the affects of the metal on top of it -- the metal roof.
"It basically seemed like it was an oven. That makes it a little bit tougher with the metal roof because it actually traps that heat in," Petroshus said.
Crews from Petroshus' Fire District 2 were the first to arrive on the scene shortly after 3 a.m.
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He said they saw flames on the inside and outside of the building, and immediately called for backup.
Two other Bexar County Fire Districts showed up to help.
"Nobody was hurt. That's the biggest thing," he said. "There were some evacuations done to buildings, exposures right next door."
Firefighters ultimately were able to keep the flames from spreading to those homes.
The liquor store, however, was destroyed.
During the fire, electricity was cut to that business, as well as the homes nearby.
Later, CPS Energy crews showed up to make repairs and restore it.
Petroshus said it appears an electrical problem caused the fire, although investigators with the fire marshal's office will make that determination.