Flames and smoke rose earlier today in a parking garage at the Shops at Rivercenter, prompting a full-scale emergency response in downtown San Antonio. The first call came in around 6:20 a.m., and by the time firefighters arrived on the scene near East Crockett Street and Bowie Street, the garage had already filled with thick smoke. A battalion chief with the San Antonio Fire Department indicated that the fire originated in a second-floor storage unit, as reported by KSAT.
The San Antonio Fire Department managed to quickly extinguish the fire, but the dense atmosphere in the garage posed challenges in ventilating the smoke. It's a complication that firefighters attempted to overcome by using fans to push out the lingering haze. While no injuries have been reported, the cause of the fire is still a mystery. As many as 18 units responded to the emergency, and it remains to be seen how the incident will affect the mall's scheduled 10 a.m. opening, per KSAT.
Further details emerged showing the source of the fire as burning trash within the garage, according to KENS 5. As smoke poured from the garage entrance, captured in a video by reporter Sue Calberg, fire crews’ efforts soon shifted to primarily focus on the smoke evacuation process. By 8 a.m., their efforts significantly cleared most of the smoke.
