ARSON SUSPECTED IN APARTMENT BLAZE
Police arrest suspect; no one hurt in fire, which destroyed building
Arson is suspected in the fire that destroyed a two-story apartment building Thursday afternoon and one suspect has been arrested.
The fire was reported at 2:35 p.m. Thursday and it took firefighters until 5:45 p.m. to contain the fire, said Lisa Thompson, public information officer for the City of Texarkana, Texas. The apartment building is at 505 W. Fifth St., about a half block from the intersection of Texas Boulevard and Fifth Street.
The suspect’s identity and arrest information was not available at presstime.
No firefighters were hurt, but within minutes firefighters were ordered to get out of the building because the structure was being engulfed in flames.
“The firemen were cleared out of the building within 15 minutes because the building was compromised,” Thompson said.
After the fire was contained and firemen could entered the building, the apartments were checked and no one was found inside the building.
“They checked each apartment and found no one in the building,” Thompson said.
Jennifer Hunter, who lives in the apartment, started “banging on doors” to alert residents of the fire after calling 911.
She was barefoot, wearing shorts and a T-shirt while knocking on doors to alert residents of a rapidly spreading fire engulfing the building near downtown Texarkana, Texas.
Hunter told police at the
scene the fire started after two men were in an alleged fight during an argument over a woman.
She said after the men stopped fighting, the fire started.
Hunter had just finished taking a shower and could hear a popping noise and realized the building was on fire.
Hunter quickly dressed in a Tshirt and shorts, but didn’t have time to put on a pair of shoes.
She was barefoot standing next to a fence across the street from the burning building, telling the police about the alleged incident.
Hunter named one of the men who was allegedly involved in the fight. A few minutes later, the men briefly fought, but police broke up the skirmish. One of the men hit the other man in the left jaw with his right fist.
The fire is believed to have started about 2:35 p.m. Thursday in an upstairs apartment on the northwest side of the building.
The number of residents living in the apartments is unknown, said Capt. Craig Hicks, deputy fire marshal, building and life safety division.
Hicks was interviewing some of the residents and referring them to The Salvation Army, Randy Sams’ Outreach Shelter and the Red Cross for shelter and clothing.
Hunter said she was scared and ran out of the building after knocking on the doors. She thought the building contained about 10 apartments.
“I lost everything. I lost a carton of cigarettes and my sisters had given me a box of Church’s chicken. It’s well cooked now,” Hunter said.
The fire created spectacular smoke and attracted the attention of a traveling priest who stopped to offer prayer to the residents.
Father Carlos Martins was traveling from Toronto, Ontario, to Tyler, Texas, when he could see the smoke from Interstate 30.
“I stopped to see if I was needed for sacrament and to pray for the victims,” Martins said.
He found Hunter standing barefoot and introduced himself to the woman. He hugged her and held her wrists while praying with her.
“She did a wonderful thing alerting her neighbors to the fact there was a fire,” Martins said.
The electrical power was cut off during the fire, but had been restored to other buildings in the area, said Thompson.
“A couple of blocks have been without power until the fire was contained,” she said.
The investigation into the cause of the fire is part of an ongoing investigation,” said Fire Chief Eric Schlotter.
Eight fire trucks surrounded the block and Wake Village, Texas, and Nash, Texas, fire departments were asked to back-up the Texarkana fire departments.
Violet Koontz, a resident in the apartment building, had moved in last Friday.
She said her pit bull named Boy perished in the fire. “He would sleep on me all night,” she said. “I just got off the streets and moved in. I had all my clothes and groceries in the apartment. I lost everything, but this will make us stronger,” Koontz said.