Nearly six dozen people are out of their homes Monday after an early-morning apartment fire damaged 16 apartments, fire officials say.
Dallas Fire-Rescue was called to a 3-alarm fire at the Sunchase Apartments on the 7200 block of Holly Hill Drive, near Greenville Avenue and Walnut Hill Lane, at about 5:30 a.m.
Firefighters arrived to find fire shooting through the roof of the two-story building and began defensive suppression efforts. After calling for a second and third alarm, firefighters were able to get the fire under control and tapped out.
Video from Texas Sky Ranger showed dozens of firefighters surrounding the two-story building as flames and smoke billowed from the roof. About 70 firefighters responded, according to fire spokesman Jason Evans.
No injuries were reported, according to DFR, but about 70 displaced residents first battled heat, smoke and flames before next battling sub-freezing temperatures, single-digit wind chills and icy streets as water used to put out the fire froze in the parking lot.
Zahid Hussain with local non-profit ICNA Relief told NBC 5 that many of those displaced by the fire are refugees from Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal.
“It is devastating and some of the families are severely in shock,” Hussain said.
Evacuated residents were bundled up in blankets around the outer edges of the complex. The American Red Cross was helping people displaced by the fire, according to DFR's Jason Evans said.
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Evans said investigators believed the fire ignited in a second floor residence and spread into the attic.
"Unfortunately, the severe damage that the building sustained made it unsafe to conduct a more thorough internal investigation; and as a result, the cause of the fire remains undetermined," Evans said.
