HOUSTON – A two-alarm fire in northeast Houston damaged all the units in an apartment building Sunday morning.
According to Aldine Fire Rescue, the fire started in a second-floor unit at Westfield Ridge Apartments at 20515 Aldine Westfield Road about 3:20 a.m.
Witnesses driving by the apartments noticed the fire and woke up residents before fire fighters got to the scene.
"We were banging on doors, because people were asleep, so we woke them up, and they came out," said witness Ramirez Zuniga. "We just got them out on time before everything spread."
Firefighters asked for extra manpower to get the fire under control. They said all eight apartment units were damaged; four had fire damage and the others had smoke and water damage.
The Harris County fire Marshal's Office said the fire was caused by discarded smoking materials.
The man living in the apartment where the fire started, Cody Straitwell, told firefighters he found the fire when he went outside.
"I woke up and it felt kind of hot," he said. "I got up and checked my patio and half of it was on fire. We got lucky; As soon as we came out, somebody was already on the phone with the fire department."
In addition to Aldine Fire Rescue, the Ponderosa Fire Department , the Little York Volunteer Fire Department, the Spring Volunteer Fire Department and the Westfield Volunteer Fire Department assisted to put the fire out.
Nobody was hurt.