HOUSTON – Three people and two dogs were left out in the chilly weather Tuesday night after fires started in two different homes in the Houston area.
The first flames sparked around 8:30 p.m. at a home on Breckenridge Drive near Bammel North Houston Road.
The owner told firefighters that he had started a fire in the fireplace to warm up his living room. Somehow, those flames got out of control, and the walls caught fire.
The fire spread quickly, but crews were able to knock it down before the flames consumed the entire home. The living room, however, was left charred, blanketed in the ash-covered remains of furniture and personal belongings.
The owner and his two dogs were able to escape the home unharmed.
Thirty minutes later, another fire sparked in the back of a home on Lockwood Drive near Rand Street.
Fire officials believed a space heater was to blame for those flames. The couple who lived in the newly renovated house said they had turned the heater on in their bedroom. They were sitting in the living room when the fire started in the bedroom and then spread into the hallway.
The inside of the home was badly burned, but the two people living in the house were able to get out safely.