Two recent fatal house fires have led to an increase in requests by residents for smoke alarms across San Antonio, and the San Antonio Fire Department is asking people to donate new smoke alarms to local fire stations to meet the need.
Five people, including three children, died in a house fire on the North Side Saturday. On Wednesday, a 90-year-old woman died in a blaze in her home on the Southwest Side. In both cases, the homes didn’t have smoke alarms or had an insufficient number of alarms for the home’s size.
“Unfortunately, it’s been a trend,” SAFD Fire Chief Charles Hood said from his office at the public safety headquarters in downtown San Antonio Thursday. “No area of our city is immune.”
San Antonio residents can request smoke alarms online, or by calling 2-1-1 and press option 1. Each SAFD fire truck also carries smoke alarms and installs them in local homes for free.
Before a fire, SAFD encourages homeowners to perform a home “S.C.A.N.,” Hood said: S — check for smoke alarms; C — clear a path for escape; A — have an action plan; and N — check on neighbors and family.
According to data from the San Antonio Fire Department, house fires have claimed the lives of 12 people in San Antonio since January. Just this week, two house fires claimed the lives of six people. Last year, the department reported 15 fatalities in fires, and 14 in 2021.
Hood, who is a member of the Metropolitan Fire Chief Association, said there has been an increase in house fire fatalities throughout the nation this year.
The fatal fires in San Antonio have happened at both old and new homes, Hood said; adding some have been at single-story homes, two-story homes and in homes where multiple generations live. The takeaway, he explained, is that everyone needs to be vigilant against house fires.
“Over the past couple of years, we have had a lot of our residents die in house fires that are elderly, they are they have mobility issues, they live alone,” Hood said. “One of the most significant things that we see is that they’re hoarders.”
Homes that are cluttered pose difficulty tackling fires, Hood said, and call for a targeted response to access the fire and put it out. Neighbors are encouraged to report hoarding to the city to get others the help they need.
Benefit navigators, a part of the city’s Department of Human Services, can help connect seniors to counseling resources, and depending on the condition of each home, can report hoarding to the state’s Adult Protective Services.
In an effort to be proactive, Hood said the fire department visits senior centers across the city to warn about the dangers of hoarding and encourage them to have a plan. After fires, he said, the team canvases the neighborhood to let people know what happened and to make sure the neighbors have smoke alarms.
During those visits, SAFD looks out for hoarding and ensure smoke alarms are functioning in the homes of elderly or disabled people who live alone.
Most fatal house fires happen while people are sleeping, Hood said, including the fatal fires this week, which happened at 3 a.m. and 2 a.m.
“Your only defense is that smoke detector going off and hopefully awakening you,” Hood said. “Once that happens, you have a plan to get out of your house.”
House fires in the summer are also common. Fires can start by overloading electrical circuits, and many are caused by smokers, Hood said. Food on the stove is common in house fires, too.
The recent deadly fires are tragic, Hood said, and should serve as a reminder about fire safety.
“It’s hard to prepare to pull six people out of a house,” Hood said. “It’s something that you don’t think about, just the number — and so it’s very difficult for us and especially where there are, excuse me, children involved.”
He had just received a visit from Slider, a white Labrador retriever who joined the department about three months ago to serve as the SAFD’s therapy dog. Slider is a leaner, and will lean into people experiencing distress, Hood said.
“We’re really asking people in this whole smoke alarm drive [to] check on your neighbors, make sure that they’re OK,” Hood said. “Check your smoke detectors. All of these things we’re trying to do is to eliminate some of these fatal fires we’ve had.”
