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Officials investigate a fire in southeast Fort Worth that killed one person, critically injured another and sent two firefighters to the hospital early Thursday, July 16, 2026.<\/p>\n
Elvis Martinez-Cartagena<\/p>\n
FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM<\/p>\n
Officials are investigating a fire in southeast Fort Worth that killed one person, critically injured another and sent two firefighters to the hospital early Thursday.<\/p>\n
Fire crews received the call about a fire in the 3500 block of Avenue J in the Polytechnic neighborhood about 2:45 a.m. They arrived in four minutes, according to department spokesperson Craig Trojacek, and found flames coming from the front of the house.<\/p>\n
Officials investigate a fire in southeast Fort Worth that killed one person, critically injured another and sent two firefighters to the hospital early Thursday, July 16, 2026. Elvis Martinez-Cartagena FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM <\/p>\n
A woman was found in the back of the home and transported to a lcoal hospital in critical condition via CareFlite, Trojacek said. A man found in the front part of the house died at the scene.<\/p>\n
A third person was uninjured but displaced by the fire, according to Trojacek. The American Red Cross<\/a> arrived to assist the individual.<\/p>\n Family members identified the man<\/a> who died as 37-year-old Jaime Martinez, according to KXAS-TV reporting. He was on oxygen and had limited mobility, the family said.<\/p>\n Jayme Luna, a neighbor, told KXAS that he and a friend saw what was happening at the home and tried to extinguish the flames with a water hose.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just too much fire,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Trojacek said stuff was piled up throughout the house, which made it harder to access the structure and get victims out. Two firefighters were taken to a hospital with apparent heat exhaustion, but are expected to make a full recovery.<\/p>\n It was a long day for the fire crews, Trojacek said. Some of them had already responded to the boating accident<\/a> that killed two people Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a really good team of chaplains and mental health providers,\u201d Trojacek said. \u201cWe have resources … from a mental health standpoint to make sure our people are taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n The cause of the fire is under investigation.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n
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