HOUSTON, Texas – A grandfather died in an apartment fire in NW Houston early Saturday morning.
At least one other person was taken to the hospital after escaping the burning building. Two children were also home at the time of the fire, but weren’t hurt.
Family members tell KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding that the victim is David Brown.
😢 This is David Brown. He died in an apartment fire in NW Houston early Saturday morning.
— Gage Goulding - KPRC 2 (@GageGoulding) February 25, 2024
Thankfully his wife and two grandchildren were able to escape the flames.
His wife shares with @KPRC2 that David was smoking a cigarette while wearing his oxygen, igniting the fire. pic.twitter.com/CMdSHQ562U
According to the Houston Fire Department, they received a 911 call around 12:24 a.m. on Saturday at the Pine Forest Park Apartments on Deep Forest Drive.
The fire starting after Brown, who was wearing his medical oxygen, lit a cigarette. His wife told KPRC 2 that Brown’s head was engulfed in flames.
“He was standing there and he had them little small. He’s not supposed to be smoking with that oxygen,” Margaret Booker-Brown said. “He lit a cigarette like this here and it was flame all the same flame. It was flames all up on over his head, all the way to his ears.”
Margaret grabbed her two grandchildren and ran.
“I’m freaking out,” she said. “I didn’t have time. “My my money burnt up. I got the hell up on out of there.”
Her husband never made it out.
Houston Firefighters rescued David, but he later died at the hospital.
“I kept trying to go back. And then this young boy, he kept pulling me and making me come up out of there,” Margaret said. “I went in there and kissed him his last time. He’s dead.”
David has a history of health problems and needs an electric scooter to get around, his family told KPRC2.
“He had health problems and things, but he didn’t have to go out like this,” said David’s step-daughter Aletha Booker. “My poor father. I don’t even know what to say, how to feel about this right now.”
A total of eight apartment homes were damaged by the fire, smoke and water. Several families are now faced with finding a new place to live in the meantime.
The Houston Fire Department says the official cause of the fire remains under investigation.