HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Dozens of families are starting the New Year without a home after a fire started at a southwest Houston apartment early Thursday morning, according to the Houston Fire Department.
HFD says firefighters were called to the Bayou West Condominiums on Club Creek Drive around 1 a.m.
They say that when firefighters arrived, a balcony and the roof of one building were already on fire.
HFD says low water pressure made it more difficult to extinguish the fire.
The fire department says they found fireworks in the courtyard area and believe people shooting them off is what started the fire.
“Not only is it illegal to have fireworks in the Houston area, but this is unsafe. We’ve got children, we’ve got families, and they are all put out of a home tonight, so this is a very tragic start to the New Year,” said Bryan Sky-Eagle, a Deputy Chief with the Houston Fire Department.
No one was hurt, according to fire officials.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire to one building. HFD says about 60 people are now without a home, including Emilia Rios and her mom and sister.
“I don’t even know how we got out, but we ended up getting out,” Rios recalled. “I even have bruises from getting out, but I don’t even know how I got the bruises.”
Rios doesn’t remember how she got out, but she said she recalled hearing lots of fireworks before the fire broke out.
“They started at 10 p.m. It got louder at 12 a.m., but we weren’t thinking this was going to happen to us,” Rios said.
The fire department says the Red Cross has been called in to help those families.
Crews in Montgomery County were also dealing with fires on New Year’s Eve.
The agency reports it responded to 10 fires, six before midnight and four after.
A department spokesperson didn’t give ABC13 an exact number, but said he believes most of the fires were caused by people improperly disposing of fireworks.
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