2-alarm fire damages 24 apartments in San Antonio’s Northeast Side, 10 dogs rescued

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – A two-alarm fire has destroyed or heavily damaged 24 apartments in the city’s Northeast Side.  San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood says 60 to 100 people have been displaced and ten dogs were rescued from the blaze shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday at the  Villa Rodriguez Apartment Homes on Nacogdoches Road at Salado Parkway.

Mary Alcala was devastated as she watched firefighters tap out some hot spots in the rubble of her third floor residence.

“I don’t even think I can go upstairs to get anything.  I don’t even have a roof,” Alcala said.

Mary Alcala watches as firefighters tap out a blaze that gutted her residence at the Villa Rodriguez Apartment Homes on Nacogdoches Road April 14, 2021/KTSA Photo-Elizabeth Ruiz

While expressing gratitude that there was no loss of life, she fought back tears as she talked about losing all of her possessions.

“I’m very overwhelmed. I’m mad, I’m pissed off that this is happening again,” Alcala said, adding that this was the third fire this past year at the complex. One of those fires was sparked by a lightning strike and Wednesday’s blaze was the first one to affect her residence.

“I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t have anything.  All my money that I saved up was in there,” Alcala said.

Among the items she said went up in flames were memories of a dear friend who passed away this year and work orders for issues that Alcala says she’s been trying to get management to address, including “exposed wires in my back patio next to my water heater and dryer.”

Animal Care Services was called to help reunite dogs with their owners.

 

 

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