SAN ANTONIO – The initial task that firefighters in Windcrest faced early Tuesday morning seemed easy enough.
They were to put out a fire that had damaged only a couple of rooms in a home in the 200 block of Driftwind. That was shortly after midnight.
RELATED: Fire flares up in same Windcrest home twice in 1 night
A few hours later, though, they would find themselves with an even bigger job as that fire roared to life again.
“They left and all of a sudden I woke up to lights going off again, flashing lights,” said Scott Gorton, who lives across the street. “They thought it was out but just one ember is all it takes.”
Gorton saw the commotion both times.
He says during the outbreak of the second fire, there were flames shooting through the roof.
Bexar County arson investigators determined the fire was caused by an accidental overload of an electrical circuit.
Firefighters believe embers from that fire continued smoldering and reignited.
Two men who live in the home had left at the outset of the initial fire after safely escaping.
An investigator who had remained at the scene noticed as it flared up the second time and called it in.
Firefighters say because the doors and windows already were open due to the first fire, that caused the wind to whip the flames throughout the home.
The fire caused extensive damage — about $100,000 worth.
“I don’t know. It was just a crazy night,” said Gorton, reflecting on everything that had happened.
A firefighter suffered a minor ankle injury while fighting the fire and was taken to a local hospital.