SAN ANTONIO – A recent series of grass fires in Castle Hills appears to be the work of one or more arsonists, according to the city’s fire chief.
Chief Jim Ladewig said there have been four fires along a stretch near Loop 410 and West Avenue in the past month. Two of them happened within an hour of each other late Monday night.
“There was (the) appearance that an accelerant was used on one of the fires,” Ladewig said. “And then the second fire, there were multiple, at least two or three areas that had been set on fire and were burning at the same time.”
Ladewig said fortunately fire crews were able to extinguish the flames in all cases before they spread to any buildings.
In some instances, firefighters struggled to gain access to the burning areas.
Most were in steep terrain, in heavy brush along railroad tracks or drainage ditches.
“We’re trying to take certain precautions and certain measures to try to get those areas mitigated to where we don’t have the overgrowth,” he said.
As of Wednesday morning, investigators had not developed any leads or named any suspects, Ladewig said.
The main focus, though, is on finding the person or people responsible for starting the fires before things get too far out of hand, he said.
“We’re in the middle of a summer. We have the 100-degree temperatures,” Ladewig said. “Hopefully the winds don’t start picking up, which causes another problem for us.”
Anyone who notices any suspicious activity or behavior is encouraged to call the Castle Hills Police Department.
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