Operations & Training

San Antonio Crews Tackle 3-Alarm Fire in Record Heat

July 14, 2020

Temperatures reached 106 degrees in San Antonio as more than 100 firefighters and support personnel worked to extinguish an apartment complex blaze that destroyed 18 units.

By Mark Dunphy

Source San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio, TX, firefighters battled record temperatures reaching 106 degrees while also battling an apartment complex blaze that destroyed 18 units Monday.

Firefighters battled a three-alarm fire and record-breaking heat Monday on the North Side.

Eight apartment units were destroyed and 16 others damaged in the blaze, which consumed a section of one building at the Parliament Bend Apartments at 11838 Parliament St.

The first San Antonio Fire Department trucks responded at 2:35 p.m., Chief Charles Hood said, and more than 100 firefighters and support personnel would eventually arrive.

The reinforcements were necessary because of the “brutal conditions to fight fire in,” Hood said, noting that firefighters were wearing 60 to 70 pounds of equipment.

“Hot is hot,” Hood said. “You have to be mentally prepared to fight fire on a day like today.”

The National Weather Service said temperatures in San Antonio spiked to 106 degrees Monday, tying the previous record for the date.

Firefighters shut off power to the entire apartment complex and prevented more damage by “cutting the building in half,” Hood said.

The chief explained that the fire reached the attic on one side of the building. Firefighters stopped the flames from spreading across the attic and destroying the rest of the units below.

From inside the strip mall behind the apartment building, Stephen Thompson could hear banging as people evacuated.

“You could hear somebody from the Fire Department knocking on all the doors, yelling to get them out,” Thompson said.

There were no missing people or injuries, Hood said. Some pets were reported missing.

Justin Dawe, who lives in one of the complex’s other buildings, was working at a liquor store around the corner when a neighbor came in and told him about the fire. He rushed home to check on his puppy.

The cause of the fire was unknown and arson investigators were on scene.

Officials brought in a rehabilitation bus for the firefighters and VIA buses to keep residents cool in the scorching heat.

Firefighters were working to restore power to the complex and to find places to stay for the displaced residents of the 24 units.

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