At least one firefighter and four civilians were injured in Fort Worth as crews responded to a three-alarm fire at the Mariposa Park Apartments Tuesday morning, according to information shared by the fire department on social media.
The injured firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation and returned to the job, according to Craig Trojacek, a public information officer for Fort Worth Fire Department. The four civilians were also injured by smoke inhalation, with two treated on the scene and two taken to the hospital.
Trojacek said 911 calls about the fire started coming in around 5:30 a.m. He said crews began arriving around 5:32 a.m.
“When they showed up, on arrival they already had fire through the roof on this complex,” Trojacek said. “This fire was already well advanced prior to our arrival.”
Trojacek said the first crews to arrive immediately called in a second alarm and began going through the complex to make sure residents were evacuated.
Around 7:30 a.m., the fire department posted that multiple families had been displaced and Red Cross workers were headed to the scene to help those families with emergency housing needs.
Because the fire had already broken through the roof of the apartment complex, Trojacek said crews evacuated residents and then fought the flames from ladder trucks, breaking in the roof even more to effectively combat the blaze.
Firefighters stand outside an apartment building in Fort Worth after a three alarm fire that injured five people, including one firefighter.
Investigators on scene Tuesday morning were waiting for the structure to be determined safe for them to enter and will be investigating the cause of the fire.
This is the second fire in as many days where Fort Worth firefighters have been injured. Trojacek said two firefighters were taken to the hospital after an overnight blaze. Those two were still at the hospital as of 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Trojacek also said there was one incident where a fire truck was hit by a civilian vehicle driving through the scene and that hoses may be crossing scenes at the scene of a fire.
“Do not drive over our hoses, you can bust our lines, and we may have individuals who are inside,” Trojacek said. “That’s our lifeline. If we run out of water on these fires and we’re inside, our people could get hurt really bad or worse and we want to make sure we can get home to our families at the end of the day.”
Ricky Roundtree, a resident of Mariposa Park Apartments, told KERA News he woke up to the smell of smoke before going outside and seeing fire on the second floor of the apartments.
Roundtree said he and his brother, who also lives at the complex, began knocking on their neighbors’ doors as the fire continued to spread.
“This is really serious,” Rountree said he recalls thinking. “Because [as] I watched it, I thought it was going to stop at a point.”
At some point it began to rain as firefighters put the fire out, Roundtree said, and had to wait under porches of nearby houses.
All residents were evacuated from the complex and transported to R.D. Evans Community Center nearby on a bus, where American Red Cross provided water and food.
Multiple residents told KERA News they believe it was an electrical fire, but the Fort Worth Fire Department has not confirmed the cause of Tuesday’s fire.
James Hartley is the Fort Worth breaking news reporter and producer for KERA News. Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org.
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