SAN ANTONIO – Independence Day was no holiday for San Antonio firefighters as fireworks related to Fourth of July celebrations kept them hopping, putting out fires all over the city.
“A lot of grass fires, large brush fires,” said Fire Chief Charles Hood. “A lot of these are caused by fireworks.”
Hood spoke to reporters late Monday night at the scene of yet an especially destructive fire, which he believes also was sparked by fireworks.
It destroyed two homes on the city’s far Northwest Side, in the 9300 block of Wildstone Place.
“We had concerns of potentially four houses. We were able to stop the fire at the two houses,” Hood said.
The families in both homes were able to escape safely, but they lost most of what they own in that fire, which broke out around 11:30 p.m.
Fire crews spent the night at the scene, making sure it didn’t spark up again.
By morning, both homes had been left with extensive damage and were missing their roofs. One of them appeared to be gutted by the fire.
Hood says it looks like someone’s idea of celebrating may have gotten way out of hand.
“This is under investigation,” he said. “But we do have Ring doorbells from some of the residents with fireworks going off in the street prior to the call coming in.”
Going forward, Hood says, he hopes people will give up the idea of lighting up any more fireworks and possibly putting others in danger.