Arson investigators are on the scene of a fire that destroyed an old TV station in Port Arthur, and almost trapped 4 firefighters.
The fire started just before 3 this afternoon at the KBTV studios on 17th Street and Woodworth Boulevard.
Everyone made it out of the building unharmed.
When the walls of the old KBTV studio in Port Arthur came crashing down, it sent everyone running.
And firefighters calling for anyone near the building to get out of the way.
"It wasn't this bad when I came down here. I'm just hoping everyone's out now, because it looks pretty bad," says Justin Williams who saw the flames at school and came by to see what was happening.
"We actually had 4 firefighters inside the building when it collapsed. They all made it out safely, thank God. So, it was some pretty intense moments there," says Port Arthur Fire Chief Larry Richard.
The intensity of the emergency workers and the intensity of the fire only grew once the walls cracked, smoldered and gave way.
"'Did that scare you?' Yes! Oh yes, yes ma'am. We heard a big boom noise and didn't know where it came from. And I filmed it," says Milton Williams.
Milton Williams grabbed his video camera when a friend told him the building was on fire, and ran outside to catch the flames.
"It was flaming out that door and started blasting out the door. I prayed to God it didn't explode of nothing like that with all the people in the neighborhood and residents around here," says Milton Williams.
It took firefighters more than three hours to knock down the flames. Chief Larry Richard says the fire spread to the upper portion of the building, heated up and caused the collapse.
No one was inside when the fire began. KBTV says Sunday was the last day for employees to work in the building.
"I came down to see what was going on because from what I know, this is a historic building, old news station," says Justin Williams.
History going up in smoke, and crashing down with the walls.
The ATF will assist the Port Arthur Fire Department as they search for a cause of the fire.
The building was built in the early 1950s and has been owned by the station since 1957.
KBTV says the destroyed building will not affect its programming.
But the station did lose a lot of equipment and old video that were being housed inside.
Republished with permission from KFDM.com
