HOUSTON -- Dozens of people were awakened by neighbors just in time to escape a huge apartment fire early Monday morning.
It happened near Northborough and Rankin in north Houston.
In total, the Houston Fire Department says 16 apartment units burned to the ground, sadly killing one dog while another was rescued by firefighters.
As flames ripped through the two-story apartment building, folks who made it out safely tried to make sense of the chaos.
“People were beating on apartments, telling us to get out,” said one resident.
“We couldn’t see nothing,” said Kenneth Fischer and Patsy Payne, who lost their apartment to the fire. “We couldn’t see two feet in front of us it was so black, the smoke was so black and thick."
The fire forced the couple to jump out of their second-floor window. Seconds later, they say, they began banging on doors to get people out.
“I hope everybody in there got out safe, because we tried to get out as much people as we could,” said Fischer.
One man even cut up his hand as he broke through windows making sure no one was left behind.
“I’m just blessed, glad I got a chance to save lives, and save my own life,” said Jacoby Ross, who also lost his apartment to the fire, but still managed to alert some of his neighbors.
Everyone made it out safely.
And amid it all, a woman ran up wailing, crying her dogs were inside, but in true miracle fashion, minutes later firefighters manage to save one of them.
The dog, drenched in water and covered in soot, made it out alive.
Our cameras were rolling as he was reunited with his owner, who was too emotional to speak.
And as the inferno began to fizzle out, Red Cross arrived and helped to warm up more than a dozen families forced out in the cold by the fire.
Families that were thankful for one another.
“The people around me, we’re like family,” said Ross.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
