SAN ANTONIO – An apartment resident's frantic efforts to put out a fire at his unit were to avail because according to him, four fire extinguishers didn't work, and fire officials said they were expired.
The resident, a father of three, said he tried to use the extinguishers after a grease fire broke out around 5 a.m. Monday at the Club View Apartments in the 3900 block of East Southcross Boulevard.
The man said he tried his extinguisher, and when that one didn't work, he tried three others from neighbors, with the same results.
"They do have an expiration date on them," said San Antonio Fire Department Battalion Chief Connie Hall. "And so we would definitely encourage everyone, one, to make sure you do have fire extinguishers; two, you know how to operate it; and three, that it's within the expiration and in working order."
The resident, who said "he did everything right," was able to get some items out of his unit, but he lost everything else.
Firefighters put out the fire in the ground-floor apartment in about 10 minutes.
Hall said firefighters evacuated eight apartments and more than a dozen people, but they were allowed to go back to their units.
No injuries were reported.
The apartment where the fire started sustained $75,000 in damage to the building, and $5,000 in belongings.
The Red Cross will find temporary housing for the man and his family.
The apartment manager said donations are being accepted for the family at the front office.
"Men's clothing, I guess ... bedding, especially," said apartments manager Gabby Alvarez when asked what the resident might need. "Everything is gone, completely, there's nothing, everything, sofas, everything."