Dallas Apartment Fire Leaves 41 People Homeless
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A four-alarm fire at the Las Terrasas apartment complex, located in the 14000 block of Brookgreen Drive in north Dallas, has left 41 people homeless just before the start of the new year. The flames broke out around 10:30 p.m. Monday night.
One of the apartment complex residents told CBS 11 News that he saw smoke coming out of an apartment unit. Soon after that, he said, firefighters were evacuating residents from their homes before flames ripped through. Most residents, firefighters said, had already gotten out of the building before officials arrived.
Emergency crews with Dallas Fire-Rescue said, when they arrived on the scene, evacuations were the top priority, making sure that residents were out of harm's way before locating the origin of the fire and going on the offensive.
It did not take long for the blaze to ignite to four alarms, but firefighters were able to keep the fire contained to just one apartment building. In total, 17 units were destroyed and 41 people – 24 adults and 17 children – lost their homes.
None of the residents, or the firefighters, were injured during the incident. The American Red Cross is now helping the displaced residents find temporary homes. Since Thanksgiving, the American Red Cross has helped roughly 200 people displaced by four different apartment fires.
The cause of Monday night's fire was later determined to be an electrical short in the wiring behind the wall of a bathroom closet, in the middle of the building's second floor. The fire spread from that wall, into the attic and then throughout the entire apartment building. The cost of the damage is estimated to be more than $200,000.
Captain Paul Martinez with Dallas Fire-Rescue said that the building's flat roof made it difficult to pinpoint where the fire started, because the smoke started to billow quickly. "The fire was basically high in the attic space area, and it took firefighters quite a while to get in there, figure out the origin of fire," Martinez said. "But they found it and it looks like an accidental fire."
