Large Fire at Southland Home Threatens Neighborhood

A two-alarm structure fire at a residence in the 3000 block of Rockbrook Dr. broke out at 4:22 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

Update 4:44 p.m.

One house is completely engulfed in flames and the neighboring house is close to becoming engulfed, according to our reporter at the scene.

We will update this story as it develops.

Update 5:25 p.m.

When the San Angelo Fire Department arrived at the scene shortly after 4:22 p.m., the house in the 3000 block of Rockbrook was completely engulfed, requiring the initial attack to be defensive, said Fire Marshal Ross Coleman.

The gusty winds weren’t helping either, as Coleman described how the team of 25-30 firefighters are working to protect exposures, meaning adjacent homes. So far, there has been success. Only smoke damage next door to the north, so far, Coleman said.

Coleman said that the Fire Chief and two Assistant Chiefs are on the scene and there have been no injuries.

“The fire initiated in the backyard,” Coleman said. In the back yard are 7-10 vehicles. All of them destroyed by the fire. Coleman estimates the house is a total loss too.

Firefighters initially had trouble cutting power to the residence. He said that the plan is to make sure the rest of the neighborhood has power, but isn’t sure where power has been lost.

All occupants of the home are evacuated. Coleman did not know of any pets yet.

Update 5:36 p.m.

A video was contributed by reader Claude Wilson:

Update 5:51 p.m.

The official address of the fire is at 3022 Rockbrook, Ross Coleman said. He confirmed that electrical and gas has been cutoff.  Coleman said that the fire is under control, but firefighters have a long way to go before the fire is extinguished. Some residents in adjacent properties have been evacuated, he said.

The home was vacant and was the subject of numerous complaints to the City of San Angelo’s code compliance department. Coleman said that code compliance investigated the complaints to the full extent allowed by city ordinances and the law. Code compliance knew about the vehicles in the backyard, Coleman said, but wasn’t pointing his finger at code compliance officials.

Ladder 1 is leading what Coleman said was a “defensive” attack on the fire. That means the firefighters are only applying water from outside the structure. No firefighters are inside. In addition, firefighter crews and hoses are positioned at the perimeter of the fire to prevent it from spreading to other structures. A tree in the neighbor’s yard caught fire but was extinguished. Coleman estimates that many of the homes downwind of the fire will experience smoke damage.

Update 6:20 p.m.

We contacted City PIO Anthony Wilson for clarification of the issues the property owner had with the City of San Angelo Code Compliance office. Wilson said that CoSA Code Compliance was alerted several times for specific issues. Each time, the property owner addressed the violation, Wilson said.

Although the fire investigation hasn’t yet begun, suspicions from bystanders are that the 7 to 10 vehicles in the backyard may have caused or contributed to the fire. Wilson said that technically, the vehicles in the backyard are probably not a code violation. “Code Compliance can’t peek over the fence into someone’s yard and cite them,” he said. If the cars had been in the public right-of-way, then they could be a violation, he said. In this case, Wilson said that the system worked.