SAN ANTONIO — A family of four is recovering after losing everything in a devastating fire.
It happened at the Avistar at the Oaks apartment complex in northeast San Antonio, on November 20.
Unfortunately, this is not the first apartment fire for Adam Sergeant and his family. Almost 10 years ago to the day, they experienced an apartment fire while living in California.
"I just couldn't believe, it's happening again for the second time," said Sergeant.
It's a phone call Adam Sergeant didn't expect to receive from his wife while he was at work telling him their apartment was on fire.
"The first thing I said was 'Again?', she's like 'Yeah, it's happening right now,'" he said.
Sergeant says his wife grabbed their daughter and two cats and ran out, leaving everything else behind including his mother-in-law's ashes.
"My wife, my daughter and our pets... My son was at school luckily, so most important things got out." said Sergeant.
Preliminary reports say the fire started near a fireplace at a neighboring apartment. According to Sergeant, a neighbor tried to start a fire but when she opened up her flume, the fire engulfed her apartment and spread. In total, 12 units were destroyed.
KENS 5 was there and spoke with firefighters.
"The center of the building has burned all the way through the roof has collapsed," said Joe Arrington, Public Information Officer, San Antonio Fire.
Sergeant says they lost everything however this time around, they did have insurance but not everything can be replaced.
"I had things in there my grandfather, my great grandfather had given me and same with my wife. Her grandmother, who just passed, was a painter and we had all of her artwork in our apartment," said Sergeant.
Sergeant's union brothers at a local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers started a GoFundMe to help them rebuild their lives. So far, more than $3,000 has been raised.
Sergeant says the support this Thanksgiving holiday has left him at a loss for words.
"It's amazing that these people who I've only known a year, mostly my coworkers and some people I've never even met... I'm fortunate... Extremely," he said.
If you would like to help the Sergeant family as they recover from the fire, you can click here to find the GoFundMe.