HOUSTON – A large fire tore through an apartment complex in the Galleria area Wednesday afternoon, displacing dozens of residents.
Stinging clouds of smoke washed over the Courtyard complex on Richmond Avenue near Sage Road. Residents said the smell of that smoke was about the only warning they got.
"Smoke started coming through my vents from the attic and I went, 'Oh, my God.' I grabbed everything. Whatever I could," resident Susie Loucks said.
The fire started just after 3 p.m., and by the time the first fire engine arrived, the roof was already collapsing. Natalie Stefanick was a few blocks away and trying to get to her 4-year-old son.
"I saw the fire trucks and I may or may not have yelled at the firefighter to let me through," Stefanick said.
Twenty to 30 units were destroyed. Residents lost everything they owned. Some things are replaceable, others are not.
"A lot of the baby pictures, my wife's pictures, clothes, up in smoke as you can see," resident Rosenthal Jackson said.
Posted by KPRC2 / Click2Houston on Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Residents believe the fire started in a common attic and swept through the building with frightening speed.
"I hear some yelling and banging on the ceiling from upstairs. It startled me so I opened the front door and there was smoke everywhere," resident Thomas Munoz said.
According to the Houston Fire Department, about 135 firefighters responded.
The fire was declared under control around 5:30 p.m.