Houston Apartments Damaged in Blaze

HOUSTON --

Dozens of families lost their homes and belongings in a three-alarm fire that damaged three buildings at a northwest Houston apartment complex, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Houston firefighters said the fire on Monday was the second blaze in a month at the Timbers of Inwood Forest Apartment Homes on West Gulf Bank Road near Green Lawn Drive.

The fire broke out at about 8:45 p.m. and swept through two occupied buildings and an empty building, officials said.

"It just kept going. It got up into the attic," District Chief Tommy Dowdy said. "Once it got up into the attic I'm sure it traveled. Once it gets to that point, there's no stopping it."

Residents ran for their lives. Everyone made it out safely, but most of them do not have a home to go back to.

"The roof's burnt off of them, so the upstairs parts of them are going to be totally gone," Dowdy said. "If there's any downstairs, you have a lot of water damage. We had heavy streams in operation. They were dumping a lot of water."

One firefighter was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment for heat exhaustion.

Arson investigators plan to search for a cause of the fire on Tuesday. They were not able to enter the building overnight because hotspots flared up.

Apartment managers relocated the residents to other units at the complex.