SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police say it may not be a coincidence that two suspicious fires early Wednesday morning were within minutes and a few blocks of each other.
Officers were called around 4:40 a.m. to the 7900 block of Fredericksburg Road, not far from the Medical Center area, after receiving word of two fires.
According to police, officers arrived to find a dumpster on fire behind a Brident Dental, when they noticed a man walking away from the scene.
Police said the man told them he had been smoking and tossed a cigarette into the dumpster, but just less than 30 minutes prior another fire was reported at Mirage Cafe, a restaurant in the 8600 block of Fredericksburg Road. That fire started on a patio and then spread toward the building, causing a little bit of damage to the outside.
SAPD said the man matched a description of the person involved in that fire, so he was taken into custody. Joe Arrington, the public information officer for SAFD, however later said the person of interest was not charged and eventually released.
Arson investigators have since been called out to investigate both fires. It is unclear if there was a motive. A damage estimate to the restaurant also was not given.