Thursday Evening Structure Fire Leaves San Angelo Family Without a Home

The San Angelo Fire Department responded to a structure fire on the 1400 block of Hatcher in north San Angelo early Thursday evening.

According to Fire Department Battalion Chief Fred Barnett, it was a standard structure fire response. “When we got here, there was significant smoke showing,” he said. “We located the source of the fire, and it was almost completely out.”

The occupants of the home are the Rochas, family of five.

The source, Barnett said, was likely from the window air conditioning unit or from faulty electrical wiring. There was a mattress smoldering in a bedroom of the house next to some electrical wiring, he said.  

“We went swimming and went to get a bite to eat. Then when we came home we saw smoke coming out the bathroom window. So, we cut the breakers off and then went inside and let the dogs out,”  Fred Rocha, the father of the family, said.

After tending to the family pets, Rocha pulled the air conditioning unit out of the window onto the lawn, and found water in his swimming pool to douse the flames.

“The fire was fairly minimal,” Rocha said. “We’re going to have a certified electrician check out the wiring before we can turn the power back on.”

For now, Rocha’s family is without a place to sleep for the evening. The American Red Cross responded and will be helping the Rocha family find shelter until the home is repaired.