SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio arson investigators are trying to determine whether two suspicious fires outside businesses in the Medical Center early Wednesday may be the work of one man.
The fires broke out about 30 minutes of each other along Fredericksburg Road.
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The owner of The Mirage Café told KSAT 12 News he was cleaning up in the kitchen of his restaurant when he suddenly noticed flames in a closed-in patio area, shortly after 4 a.m.
He said he called 911 while also trying to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher.
Fire crews arrived and quickly put out the fire.
Still, it caused quite a bit of damage to the patio, located in the 8600 block of Fredericksburg Road.
About a half hour later, police officers who were in the area of Fredericksburg Road and Medical Drive noticed a dumpster on fire behind Brident Dental.
Officers at that scene said they found a man walking out of the dumpster enclosure and took him into custody. They say he told them he may have started the fire when he threw away a cigarette. Officers said he also matched the description of someone spotted at the scene of the restaurant fire.
Joe Arrington, the public information officer for SAFD, however later said the person of interest was not charged and released.
SAPD said they planned to share what they learned with arson investigators who were taking over the case.