Deadly Fire Reported at Senior Living Center in San Antonio
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File photo. iStock/Thinkstock(SAN ANTONIO) — Fire investigators in Texas are searching for the cause of a blaze that killed five people.
The fire was at the Wedgwood Senior Living Center in the San Antonio suburb of Castle Hills. Firefighters used ladders to evacuate elderly residents from the eleven-story apartment building for retirees.
Five people were killed and 18 were injured. One person’s injuries are critical.
About 75 people, including some who can’t walk, were rescued.
Carmen Johnson says a firefighter told her to run.
“Run? I can’t even walk,” Johnson said. “And I don’t know how he did it but he carried me on his arm and went all the way to the fire escape and came down the fire escape.”
First floor resident Jimmy Storment says he tried to save those trapped on the third floor.
“They were screaming for help and I was telling them to come out on the ledge, that’s the only way they could breathe because the smoke had already overtaken them,” Storment said.
The fire chief says the cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined.
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