SAN ANTONIO – Some people who live in a Northwest Side apartment building that caught fire early Thursday morning had to use their balconies or patios to escape, according to a relative of some of the victims.
Vanessa Posadas says she rushed over to the Oak Creek apartments, located in the 6100 block of Vance Jackson Road, after getting a call from her sister whose front door was blocked by flames.
RELATED: Families, pets escape ‘intense’ fire at Northwest Side apartment complex
“They all to jump out through their balconies and the fire was so intense. It just blew out the whole front,” she said, talking about the escape her family and neighbors made. “Very traumatizing, very traumatizing.”
Posadas says her 73-year-old father, who lived in a ground flood unit, had to climb over his patio wall to get to safety.
Many of the residents were asleep when the fire broke out around 12:30 a.m. and escaped with only the clothes they were wearing.
“My father’s car is parked right here,” Posadas said, pointing to a vehicle with obvious damage. “The fire was so hot the whole front of his vehicle is burnt in.”
Volunteers with the American Red Cross arrived later and offered assistance to some of the families.
San Antonio firefighters, meanwhile, worked on knocking down the fire.
By the time they put it out, it had destroyed or caused damaged to all eight units in the building, including the leasing office.
Arson investigators were called in to determine the cause of the fire.
As of late Thursday morning, they had not announced their findings.
Neighbors, however, say they heard a loud argument outside one unit only moments before a fireball erupted in that area.
Managers with the apartment complex arrived at the property several hours after fire crews had left.
They told KSAT12 they have other apartments available for the displaced residents.
However, they were still working to track down those people who may have been offered temporary shelter by the American Red Cross.