HOUSTON – A firefighter was injured and a husband and wife are out of a home after a massive fire in southeast Houston.
Officials said the fire broke out around 10:30 p.m. at a home on Lawndale Street near Collier Street.
A couple in their 60s - who had lived in that home for over 30 years - was inside when the flames erupted.
The husband said he had been watching TV and had just fallen asleep when he heard the smoke alarm, and that’s when he saw huge flames coming from the carport area next to the home.
One neighbor said there was a major explosion and his dog woke him up, and that’s when he saw the blaze shooting from the two-story home.
“It was a major explosion that happened, and it erupted in a big ball of fire,” said neighbor Michael Collins. “I saw major, major fire going all the way up… three, four stories tall so that fire had to be at least 5 stories tall.”
The couple was able to escape the home, but the fire consumed everything because it took firefighters a while to arrive due to a train blocking their route.
“We have a train tracks within about 30 feet from here,” said Senior Capt. Cain Gamez with the Houston Fire Department. “There was a train stopped on the train tracks, so we had to reroute. We had three apparatuses that had to reroute.”
Once they arrived, firefighters were able to put the blaze out in under 30 minutes, but one firefighter injured his leg in the process.
It is unclear what kind of injury he sustained, or the extent of the injury.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.