A townhouse in Houston was completely destroyed due to a fire.
On May 19, the Houston Fire department received a call about a fire at 3137 Hagman Crescent. The department got a call at 10 p.m. and it took around four hours for the crew to put out the fire.
鈥淚 bought a car yesterday so we were outside the house exploring the car. Once we were done, I opened the door to the house and there was smoke everywhere, thick black smoke. I just grabbed a bucket, filled it with water and when I again opened the door, it had gotten worst,鈥� said Hemant, one of the three tenants of the three-bedroom house.
鈥淲ithin just a minute or two, it had turned into this huge fire. We ran outside and called the fire department,鈥� he said, adding that in the time that the fire department arrived, set up and started to put out the fire, all their stuff was gone.
Hemant said he was told by the department in their preliminary investigation on site that the fire was most probably a grease fire.
鈥淏ut we weren鈥檛 cooking at all. They said they found grease on the floor but we had oil in our home for cooking so during the fire it must鈥檝e gotten there in all the destruction and not because of we were cooking,鈥� he said.
Fire Chief Jim Daigneault however said that the department was still conducting their investigation to find out the cause of the fire and that they hadn鈥檛 reached any conclusions.
鈥淭hat one structure, the dwelling is pretty well destroyed,鈥� he said, adding that hopefully the house owner had an insurance.
The tenants however have lost everything.
鈥淣one of us was injured; we are alright but all of our stuff is gone,鈥� said Hemant.
While the investigation continues, Daigneault gave two important tips for residents to ensure they aren鈥檛 the victims of a fire.
鈥淚f you are cooking in the kitchen, stay in the kitchen and don鈥檛 walk away leaving anything unattended. Most fires start in the kitchen. So that鈥檚 the biggest thing. And then, having working smoke detectors is another asset to ensuring your safety,鈥� he said.
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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