SAN ANTONIO – A woman who was burned out of her Southeast Side home early Wednesday morning said she believes someone purposely started the fire.
San Antonio firefighters responded to a call from a neighbor around 6 a.m. and found a travel trailer on fire in the 1900 block of E. Highland.
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They also found that the flames had spread to a home where Laura McGill had been sleeping.
“My neighbors came banging on my door, saying to wake up and get the kids out of the house, that there’s a fire,” she said. “My kids aren’t here, thank God.”
McGill, whose children are visiting relatives, says she didn’t even notice any smoke.
She said her bedroom is located at one end of the home, while the fire was burning on the other end.
“Whenever I got up, it wasn’t in the house yet. But as soon as I got up, I saw the back window bust in,” she said.
McGill managed to escape the fire on her own, along with another family member and her dog.
Firefighters said it appears the fire started in the trailer behind her home.
The flames initially spread to the edge of her home, then moved throughout the home, firefighters said. By the time crews put the fire out, the trailer had burned to the ground.
McGill’s home also was left with extensive damage from both the fire and smoke.
“Definitely, that fire didn’t start on its own,” she said.
For good reason, McGill said, she believes the fire is suspicious.
Firefighters responded to her home just last week to put out a car fire.
McGill believes someone also set that fire intentionally.
However, arson investigators have not yet made a determination about the cause of either fire.