Families Lose Everything In Dallas Apartment Fire
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Several dozen families are without homes on Monday after a five-alarm fire ripped through an Oak Cliff apartment complex on Sunday. The incident happened at the Casa de Loma Apartments, located near the intersection of Davis Street and South Cockrell Hill Road.
More than 100 firefighters responded to the flames that destroyed 18 units and damaged even more. But, remarkably, nobody was hurt during the blaze.
Neighbors describe a frantic scene when the fire started, as they pounded on doors and tried to alert everyone about what was happening. Those at the apartment complex said that the fire spread very fast, though it is not clear where it started. According to firefighters, flames moved even faster when they reached a shared attic space.
"There were a lot of people running and screaming," said victim Grace Villanueva.
Some residents first tried to douse the blaze with buckets of water, but flames simply consumed the two-story building too quickly. Crews from the Cockrell Hill Fire Department and Dallas Fire-Rescue were able to extinguish the blaze after about 90 minutes.
"We're just covered in smoke," recalled victim Lisa Contreras. "I just grabbed my baby and my daughter and we all run out."
Police officers rescued four children from the burning building. While every person made it outside safely, the same could not be said about every pet. Rachel Williams said that she did not have time to grab any of her belongings -- including her two cats. "My cats are dead," she said. "They are dead at the door. We lost everything."
Williams is one of more than 50 people who likely lost everything that they once owned. Residents are returning to the burned building on Monday to see if anything can be retrieved, but the building itself is structurally dangerous. The American Red Cross made sure that all families had a place to stay on Sunday night.
"My apartment's gone, everything," added mother Adela Duran. "I don't have nothing. No shoes. Nothing for my kids."
"My backpack burned," said Jose Valencia before school on Monday morning. "My binder, my notebooks, my library books and some gum."
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Investigators said that it started in a vacant second-story unit.
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