SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio fire investigators are questioning a man detained Friday morning at the scene of a suspicious fire just north of downtown.
They did not say right away whether he faces any charges.
Police officers initially chased the man and handcuffed him after they say he ran toward the active fire scene in the 800 block of W. Poplar.
According to firefighters, the fire broke out after 5:30 a.m. inside a vacant two-story home that had been boarded up.
When they arrived, though, they say they noticed that the house was already collapsing, and the fire had begun to spread to two other vacant homes next door.
Jeremy Hernandez, who lives two streets over, was returning home from a nightclub when he noticed the smoke.
“I thought it was my house ‘cause I [got] a message from my mom,” Hernandez said. “She was, like, ‘Get home now.’ I’m still in shock. I’m glad no one was in there. I’m glad everyone is ok.”
As it turned out, Hernandez’s home was not in danger.
But he was not the only neighbor who was concerned.
Many gathered outside, watching nervously as fire crews battled the flames.
“They shouldn’t catch on fire like that. I mean, in less than 30 minutes, [the house] is gone,” Victor Villarreal, who lives across the street, said.
As he watched the scene unfold, Villarreal recalled another recent fire that he witnessed on that street.
Another vacant home next to the three that burned Friday morning also went up in flames.
Villarreal says although all the homes were boarded up, he regularly sees people going in and out of them.
“They take the boards down,” he said. “Police pass by, and [the people] lock the doors. I know somebody was there because they would close the curtains and open the curtains.”
Although Villarreal says he often calls police to report the suspicious activity, he has never witnessed officers catching anyone in the act.
Firefighters say none of the homes that burned Friday had working utilities, causing them to believe the fire is suspicious.