HOUSTON --
Three firefighters were injured when the roof of a southeast Houston home collapsed while they battled a blaze on Thursday, KPRC Local 2 reported.
Houston firefighters found fierce flames shooting from the house on Lyndhurst Drive near Jutland Road shortly after 5 a.m.
Crews ran into trouble after they made an interior attack.
Investigators said the intense heat produced gasses that ignited the inside of the house.
"The heat caused it to flashover and then the roof collapsed," Investigator Luke Mauro said.
The firefighters, including the captain of Station 35, called for a mayday, and a second alarm was automatically issued.
"It's very possible that the fire did flash and the roof collapsed at the same time," said Luke Mauro, a senior arson investigator.
Other firefighters rushed the three to safety, officials said. They were transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital with first- and second-degree burns on their arms or back.
It took about 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze. The house was destroyed. It was torn down a short time later because it was ruled a safety hazard.
Officials said the house was technically vacant, but three adults were inside at the time of the fire. The home did not have electricity.
Neighbors said they believe the home was occupied by drug users.
Witnesses told KPRC that the home caught fire twice before.
"At first, it had caught on fire and all levels burned. They just painted the front of it and just made it look like it was still livable. But, actually, the inside was already charred anyway," neighbor Jeffrey Pollard said.
Frederick White said the home used to belong to his now-deceased parents. He was asleep in a pickup truck outside the house when the fire began.
"I looked up and seen it burning," White said. "I came over here and woke these people up here and told them to get their kids outside because the house was on fire."
Everyone inside the house escaped without injury.
The house had caught fire twice before being destroyed.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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