SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio firefighters say it appears a faulty air conditioning unit is what caused a fire in an abandoned apartment just north of downtown.
They also found two people who they described as homeless inside the building, located in the 800 block of San Pedro Avenue. The fire broke out just before 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Firefighters found smoke pouring out of the windows of the apartment when they arrived.
They quickly knocked down the fire, then spent some time checking the roof for possible hot spots.
The two people who firefighters removed from the building did not suffer any injuries.
The apartment is located above The Reggae Bar, a business that had been open for takeout orders as recently as Monday, according to its Facebook page.
It did not appear that the bar sustained any damage from the fire.
The same business was threatened by a fire in February 2019.
Firefighters struggle through ‘dangerous maze’ to battle fire near downtown
At that time, investigators said the fire started in an abandoned building that had served as a haunted house, located just behind the bar.
It burned dangerously close to The Reggae Bar and caused some damage to a neighboring business, Supremes Sports Bar.
Fire Chief Charles Hood blamed that fire last year on homeless people who were using the abandoned building to keep warm during cold weather.