Firefighters were at a blaze for nearly six hours along Jett Road Saturday morning on the far Southside, but could only watch.
They were called to the fire just after 8 a.m., but soon after they arrived they were forced to exit the building and fight the fire from a safe distance. They said they were worried the house could collapse, because there was a lot of building supplies inside.
"Theres a lot of contents in there, a lot of fire load it's just going to have to burn itself out at this point. We can't put anymore water on it," said Jacob Mendiola, the district fire chief.
Firefighters said that once the fire was out of their hands they could only let it burn, concerned that runoff from the fire would contaminate the nearby Medina River.
The owner of the building and local activist, Phil Ross, said the house was so full because he was in the middle of building his dream home.
I've been accumulating building supplies and equipment to build my dream house and Ive been working on it for the last six years, said Ross.
He said he thought the fire started on the third floor where he had started an open fire on the back deck. He said he thought be put the fire completely out, but that maybe some hot coals were the cause.
Ross said he had lived at for the past 20 years. He said he hopes he can still make use out of what's left of the structure, but may have given up hope of finishing his three-story dream home.
