May 27--At least 28 people are displaced after an apartment fire that left eight apartments torched and filled with smoke Monday, May 27, in east Lubbock.
Fire crews continued battling the two-alarm blaze just after noon Monday -- more than three hours after the fire was reported in an apartment in the Spanish Oaks complex in the 1000 block of East 28th Street, said Deputy Fire Marshal Robert Loveless said.
There were no injuries reported in the fire. Volunteers from the South Plains Chapter of the American Red Cross and Salvation Army responded to the scene to provide assistance.
Bill Curnow, a spokesman for the Red Cross, confirmed volunteers were assisting 28 people from all eight apartment units in the damaged building.
Loveless said investigators with the Lubbock Fire Marshal's Office planned to investigate the cause of the fire once the blaze was fully extinguished.
Flames and smoke poured from the building as much of the structure's roof collapsed and fire crews tried to limit the damage to the two-story, eight-unit building.
"We're fighting this defensively," Loveless said. "It hasn't spread to any of the other buildings so far."
Apartment renter Charles Green said his girlfriend was trying to sleep on a couch in their living room when the fire started near an electrical outlet behind the couch.
"She said she was hearing sparks and then the sparks caught the curtains on fire," he said. "By the time I came down, the wall was on fire and it was going up fast."
He said he only had time to make sure his girlfriend, 11-year-old niece and 9-year-old nephew were out of the apartment before fire and smoke filled the unit.
"My wallet, my social security card, my ID -- it's all still in there," he said as a fireman on a ladder truck sprayed water through the collapsed roof.
Loveless said the complex has been cited for several city codes violations in recent months, including electrical and plumbing problems.
It was not yet clear if any of those violations were connected to Monday's fire, he said.
Green said an air conditioner was plugged into the electric outlet where the fire seemed to start. He said he's complained off-and-on to apartment management about the outlet he described as problematic. The complex recently replaced the outlet, he said.
"It was still shutting stuff off things that were plugged into it sometimes," he said.
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