7-Year-Old Critically Injured In East Dallas Apartment Fire
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Fire investigators are trying to get to the bottom of what caused a Dallas apartment building to catch fire, leaving a 7-year-old boy in critical condition.
A mother and her two young sons were taken to hospitals for their injuries after flames engulfed their home at the Solana Ridge apartments on Chariot Drive.
When firefighters arrived about 1:30 Wednesday afternoon, units on both floors were on fire with flames even coming out of the roof. They found the mother outside the building with her 7-month-old son. She told them her 7-year-old son was still inside. Rescuers found him unresponsive, but they were able to revive him.
The child was still in critical condition at 8 p.m. Wednesday night.
Two firefighters were treated at the scene of the fire -- one after he was overcome by the heat, and another who suffered a minor injury to his hand.
Six apartments were impacted by the fire but that number is expected to rise.
Investigators told CBS11 they still don't know what caused the fire. But the best clue is that the mother told them she could smell gas before the fire started.
Eduardo Garcia lives in the complex and said he recently reported smelling gas in his own unit, and he heard a blast right before the fire.
"I heard an explosion. It sounded like... I don't know how to... It was just like, 'boom!' ...like, what's going on, and I just walked outside, and there was a lot of people out there. I thought it was a fire at first, but it was an explosion," Garcia said.
Representatives from Atmos Energy are working with fire investigators looking into the reports of the smell of gas before the fire.
The Red Cross is helping the families who were displaced.
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