Several North Texas families are breathing a sigh of relief after a fast-moving brush fire came within feet of their homes Tuesday afternoon.
The fire broke out around noon near I-35W, just north of Heritage Trace Parkway. Fort Worth Fire Department remained at the scene for more than three hours, with assistance from the Haslet and Saginaw fire departments. Multiple tanker trucks, engines and brush trucks were deployed to help contain the blaze.
A Fort Worth Fire Department spokesperson said wind was a contributing factor in how quickly the fire spread, igniting brush between an industrial complex and a nearby neighborhood.
Kaden Nguyen and his daughter, Kayla, returned home to find flames had come just inches from their fence.
“My neighbor. My wonderful neighbor next door, they called me,” Nguyen said.
The fire started while the family was away at work and school. Nguyen said he monitored the situation using his home security camera.
“I saw it on the camera, and I see the smoke come and people all come around,” he said.
Several neighbors jumped into action before firefighters arrived. Mona Duval said she was outside when she smelled smoke.
“I turned around and I saw the smoke was over here,” she said. “So I ran back over there, and I was like, oh no, it’s in the back of our house.”
Duval recorded video on her phone as her husband tried to contain the flames with a garden hose.
“Within just a couple of minutes, it moved, I would say, about 200 yards. It was moving fast; the wind was blowing it really fast,” Duval said.
Neighbors say they worked together to slow the fire’s progress.
“We had to grab our hoses to help our neighbor across the street from you. You can see the burn marks where we were with the hoses,” said neighbor Jaco Werner. “We were just grateful that it didn’t [go] any farther than it did.”
Fort Worth Fire says the cause of the blaze remains under investigation. The department is working with nearby businesses to review surveillance footage.