The Mesquite Fire Department responded to two structure fires early Thursday morning resulting in two deaths.
At 1:54 a.m., firefighters responded to a structure fire in the 300 block of Kimberly Drive.
The structure sustained heavy damage and one victim died in the fire. A total of 35 fire personnel responded to the fire. No firefighters were injured.
At 6:16 a.m., a call was received about a fire inside a room of a house in the 2800 block of Ingram Circle.
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Firefighters were able to assist one occupant to escape the fire, but another occupant later died after being transported to a hospital. A total of 18 fire personnel responded to the fire. No firefighters were injured.
Each incident is under investigation.
Friday, friends returned to Kimberly Drive for a second day to dig through the rubble, searching for the cats they believe Leah Langdon was working to save when she died in the blaze.
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"She loved everybody. There wasn’t a person or an animal that she didn't love, and if she could do anything in her power for any of them, she would. She would just do it," said Alan Bernia.
Bernia and his husband Juan Alvarez said Langdon, who would've turned 60 later this month, followed them from California to Texas six years ago for a fresh start.
They said she loved plants and her job in pond maintenance. Most importantly, they said she was selfless.
“She actually put her life on hold to help me through my open-heart surgery," said Bernia.
Most recently, the couple said Langdon was working to overcome her own health challenges.
“We were trying to keep her moving forward, you know, and she was doing it, you know? And then this happened," he said.
They said the devastating aftermath is tough to reconcile with memories of a woman so full of love and life.
“We packed a lot into 30 years. 30-plus years. We packed a lot," said Bernia.
Friends are asking people in the neighborhoods of Parkview and Broadmoor Estates to keep their eyes open for three of the cats, which firefighters were not able to find. They include Bud, Mouse and a 17-year-old Siamese cat named Squirty.
