Massive flames destroy townhome complex

Monday, November 26, 2007

(11/26/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- A four-alarm fire spread through eight townhomes in west Houston and it may have started with a heater.

It happened at the Wisteria Gardens townhome complex. Investigators and crews were called to the scene just before 2am.

When fire crews arrived, they found an entire unit completely engulfed in flames. Memorial and Dairy Ashford was closed while fire crews battled the blaze. Those roads have since been reopened.

The woman who lives in the unit where the fire started said she had turned on her heater and then, sometime last night, she began hearing clicking noises. She got up and went to the area where the heater is contained and when she opened the door, there were flames. By the time she got out her family out of the unit and called 911, the entire attic of the unit was consumed by the flames.

Investigators say the fire spread quickly and they had to call a fourth alarm.

"Setting up water supplies takes a little bit of time. We need two lines for it and a pumper hooked up at the hydrant so it just took a little bit of time to get it," said District Chief Tommy Dowdy with the Houston Fire Department. "Of course, thoughout all of that time, the fire is advancing. So it's a little unnerving while we're waiting."

There were eight families in the destroyed building. The management company has a sister complex and those displaced families will be moved to that location.

Luckily, no one was injured in the massive fire.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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