An early-morning house fire in east Dallas forces one woman to jump from a second-floor window.
Firefighters arrived at the vacant home on the 5000 block of Bryan Street shortly before 3 a.m. to find the home engulfed in flames, officials said.
"We had a person outside and unconfirmed reports of someone inside. But the fact of the matter is this house was a defensive fire to attack. We couldn't go inside just because the radiant heat was so high," said Lt. Joel Lavander with the Dallas Fire Department.
At that point firefighters turned their focus into evacuating people in nearby homes, where the three-alarm fire was breaking out windows in adjacent houses.
In all, 75 firefighters were called to battle the fire.
The 49-year-old woman who jumped out the second-floor window was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Officials planned to speak with the woman to confirm if another person was inside the house at the time of the fire.
Firefighters said they will be looking over the debris for a body.
Neighbors told NBC 5 that it was not uncommon to see homeless people coming in and out of the vacant home.
Initial estimates provided by the Dallas Fire Department list damages at $200,000. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Copyright 2006 by nbc5i.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.