HOUSTON --
A fire that broke at a west Harris County strip mall Friday morning, destroying several businesses, was started by discarded smoking materials, investigators said.
Fire crews were sent to the center on Highway 6 at Clay Road at 9:40 a.m.
"When we arrived on scene, we found heavy smoke, heavy fire from the strip center. We immediately went into a defensive mode attack on the fire," said Robert Rasa with the Cy-Fair Fire Department.
One part of the L-shaped structure was destroyed and flames continued to spread.
Firefighters from six departments, including the Houston Fire Department, helped battle the blaze.
"The smoke is extremely thick," witness Mario Ortiz said. "It was a pretty good (fire). It happened fairly quickly."
"The flames (were) way above the building and quite a bit of smoke. It moved so, so fast from when it first started," witness Arthur Murdock said. "There wasn't too many people out in the parking lot."
One firefighter suffered a broken leg and was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital for treatment. No one else was injured.
Officials said everyone evacuated safely.
"Our investigation indicates the fire started at the base of an exterior awning," said Lt. Chad Shaw of the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office. "The fire was accidental in nature and was caused by discarded smoking materials."
Witnesses said the fire appeared to have started between a hair salon and a Chinese restaurant.
"That's where I saw the flames start to go up," Murdock said.
Eight businesses in the strip center sustained fire, water and heat damage.
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