A major fire tore through an apartment complex on Braesvalley Drive in Meyerland early Thursday, displacing around 40 residents.
Around 2:30 a.m., about 100 Houston Fire Department firefighters arrived at The Life at Jackson Square apartment complex and found heavy smoke while neighbors tried to escape in the middle of a storm.
HFD Deputy Chief Brian Sky-Eagle said crews saw an “active evacuation” already underway when they pulled up. Many residents are older, use wheelchairs, or rely on oxygen, so firefighters focused first on helping people get out safely.
Deputy Chief Sky-Eagle said crews ran into a serious water problem inside the complex.
He explained there were no working hydrants in the interior courtyard. Firefighters then reached for a hydrant on the street, which they found broken.
Later Thursday, HFD Chief Tom Muñoz said a stem had been broken off, possibly because the hydrant was hit by a car. The hydrant passed an inspection in April, which usually happens twice a year, he added.
The building was built in the 1970s, Muñoz said, and was “grandfathered in” to requirements that didn’t force it to have hydrants inside the complex.
The situation forced crews to stretch heavy hose lines down the road — roughly a thousand feet — to reach a functioning hydrant.
“There is a lot of line out here on the street,” Chief Sky-Eagle said, describing how crews stepped hoses down from a five-inch line to smaller lines so they could reach the burning buildings while still helping residents out of their apartments.
Storm conditions made the response harder.
Sky-Eagle said the smoke refused to rise and instead “pushed down on everybody” in the courtyard. Firefighters had trouble even spotting which unit burned first because steam and smoke stayed low and thick.
With visibility so limited and the roof catching fire, commanders pulled firefighters out at one point because of the risk of collapse. Two large ladder trucks then poured water from above to knock down flames running across the roofline.
Once crews forced their way into upper units, they found a row of vacant apartments.
Sky-Eagle said investigators believe the fire started on the top floor or in the roof area. He said many of the apartments along that run were empty and are now part of an active arson investigation.
He also said the complex lacks dividers in the attic space. That meant the fire moved in both directions across one large, shared attic and spread into three connected buildings.
The chief said three sides of the complex, which represent three different buildings, lost their roof. A wall now bows outward, and the building has structural problems, so firefighters roped off unsafe areas.
He said about 20 units in the main building were occupied — 10 upstairs and 10 downstairs — and more people from an interior building might also be without a place to stay as crews finish their count.
Red Cross staff responded to the scene. METRO brought a bus to serve as a warm place for neighbors while firefighters and volunteers worked to organize help for residents who lost power and shelter.
Despite the challenges, the chief said no firefighters were hurt and no residents reported injuries.
He praised residents for working with crews, pointing out that firefighters helped people in wheelchairs, people who rely on oxygen, and those trying to carry pets out of the smoke.
“Our first action getting on scene was actually helping the people get out,” he said. “Getting them to a safe place before we could even hit the fire.”
‘Nuisance’ property sued by City of Houston
In April, the City of Houston sued the property owners over the “seriousness and frequency of crime,” including two murders in 2024.
The City cited several additional crime reports, including for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault, seeking to deem it a nuisance property and have it shut down for at least a year, records show.
The case is still pending though lawyers for the property denied the City’s claims in a filing.
Fire safety reminders
With cold weather settling over Houston, Sky-Eagle urged apartment residents across the city to take this fire as a reminder to review basic safety steps.
He shared several points:
Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors: Sky-Eagle asked residents to check alarms today. He said smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors need working batteries, especially when people rely on space heaters or candles.
He added that the Houston Fire Department gives smoke detectors to residents who need them and that the inspection division visits homes to install them.
Space heaters: The chief urged people to keep space heaters at least three feet away from anything that burns, including walls, curtains, beds, and furniture.
Candles and open flames: Sky-Eagle called open flames one of the largest causes of fires. He said candles need to sit on sturdy tables or desks, away from curtains, bedding, paper, or anything that bursts into flames with heat.
Sky-Eagle said hydrant problems at this complex involve both private and public systems.
Interior hydrants fall under the property owner’s responsibility, and any failures there might count as a fire code violation. Hydrants on the street tie into Public Works, which works with the fire department to inspect and repair them.
“As you know, the city is working to condemn some of these vacant places that pose a danger to the community and to us,” he said, adding that constant training and inspections help crews respond to fires in dense complexes on the south side.