Fire damages 12 units at Northwest Side apartment complex, SAFD says

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Fire Department is investigating the cause of a Saturday night fire on the Northwest Side.

Firefighters were dispatched to the Tarry Towne Apartments around 9 p.m. in the 300 block of Vance Jackson Road.

An SAFD Battalion Chief told KSAT that when crews arrived, they saw flames coming from the roof of the building. The fire continued spreading into the attic, which caused firefighters to call for residents to evacuate the affected units.

Apartment resident Olivia Schupp became aware of the fire in the building next to hers when firefighters knocked on her door.

“Somebody told me to get out. There was a fire,” Schupp told KSAT. “I couldn’t see anything because of the smoke.”

Schupp said she has lived at the complex for eight years.

“My eyes were really hurting,” Schupp said. “My eyes are really sensitive.”

In all, 12 units were damaged by the fire, the battalion chief said. Fire crews rescued one cat, but no injuries were reported.

“Well, last night, all I smelled was smoke in my apartment, and I stepped out, open the front door, and there was smoke everywhere. “You couldn’t see,” said resident Frances Gaitan.

Gaitan lived in one of the units that burned in the fire. She says when the fire happened, her first two thoughts were to get her dog and her elderly disabled neighbors out.

“I went back and I was banging on her window. And the other lady, she’s in a wheelchair, but I couldn’t handle the smoke anymore, so I had to get out,” she said.

“This is my baby,” Gaitan said about her dog Lola. She’s she just turned a year old in July. And I know she panicked last night, too, but she’s my little life, you know, I couldn’t leave her behind”.

Fire officials said a representative from Opportunity Home San Antonio arrived on the scene and helped secure temporary housing for residents affected by the fire.