'She didn’t have to suffer that way'

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SAN ANTONIO — The sister of the woman killed in a house fire on the southwest side last week said the family had no idea their loved one’s smoke detector was not working.

The fire happened just before 2 a.m. on July 26 at the 200 block of Ross Avenue. Sylvia Garcia said her sister, 82-year-old Alicia Guajardo, died in the fire.

“It devastated all of us,” Garcia said. “She didn’t have to suffer that way.”

Firefighters said the home did not have a working smoke detector. Garcia said on Monday, investigators called her and told her it started due to electrical issues. SAPD told KENS 5, the fire is still under investigation.

Garcia said the home is beyond repair and the city will demolish it this week.

“She thought that she was safe in her house,” Garcia said. “She had burglar bars around the house and her keeping herself safe that way, she thought she was OK.”

Garcia said the sudden loss of her sister has been eye-opening.

“I’m going to start putting some fire alarms at my other sister’s house too,” She said. “That way, it won’t happen like it happened to her.”

Garcia said she wants people to remember her sister as the caring person she was.

“She was always happy,” Garcia said.

The family has started a GoFundMe to help pay for the funeral and the fee to demolish the house.

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