Fatal Fire in Dallas

A child and two adults perished in a two-alarm house fire in North Dallas early Thursday morning. The first alarm went out just after midnight at a residence in the 9200 block of Windy Crest Drive in North Dallas.

“The intensity of the flames made it almost impossible for firefighters to enter the home through the front door, so extra teams came in through the back and helped knock some of the flames down first,” a Dallas Fire-Rescue statement said.

According to investigators, the fire started on the first floor of the house, eventually reaching the attic. The child and two adults were taken to area hospitals, where they were later pronounced dead. The names of the victims have not been released.

“I was hoping it wasn’t actually the people who it was,” said neighbor Samantha Hargrave. “I have a child the same age as the little boy that lived in the house.”

The family’s pets were also killed in the fire.

Investigators were planning to return to the scene on Thursday afternoon to try and determine the cause.
By Darla Miles at WFAA News, Dallas
__________
Three people – a husband, wife and their 5-year-old son – have died in a house fire.
Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to the fire shortly after midnight at the two-story home in the 9000 block of Windy Crest Drive near Forest and Abrams, according to a news release.

Flames were visible from a good distance, and the original 911 call came from a nearby apartment complex.

The structure of the house appeared stable this morning after firefighters quelled the blaze, but the inside appeared charred. There were visible holes on one side of the house.

Firefighters had to come in through the back door to make the rescue, as the intense heat and smoke made entering through the front door impossible.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but investigators believe the fire started on the first floor, and the parents ran upstairs to get their child, but were trapped once they had found him.

Firefighters found all three unconscious in an upstairs bedroom.

In the front yard, paramedics began CPR and took the family to hospitals in critical condition with burn injuries and smoke inhalation. The father was taken to Parkland Hospital, and the mother and son were taken to Medical City Dallas. But all were later pronounced dead.

The two family dogs also died in the fire. It is not known if the house had functioning smoke detectors.
By Kip Mooney in The Dallas Morning News
__________
Parents, 5-year-old son die in Dallas fire
Two adults and their 5-year-old son died early Thursday as flames swept their two-story brick home in northeast Dallas, officials said. The names of the victims, who lived in the 9200 block of Windy Crest Drive, were unavailable at 7:45 a.m., according to the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Firefighters were called at 12:01 a.m. to the one-alarm blaze in the neighborhood, which is southwest of the intersection of Forest Lane and Interstate 635, also called the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway.

The first responders saw flames from a distance as they approached the home and decided to call for more firefighters, said Jason Evans, spokesman for Dallas Fire-Rescue.

“In fact,” he said in a news release, “the flames were so visible from a distance, that the original 911 call came in from a neighboring apartment complex.”

Evans noted, however, that the “intensity of the flames made it almost impossible for firefighters to enter the home through the front door; so extra teams came in through the back and helped knock some of the flames down first.”

He added that “while the entire structure remained intact, the inside of the home had been completely destroyed.”

“Unfortunately,” Evans said, “when the smoke cleared, firefighters found the unresponsive bodies of three people — a husband, wife and their 5-year-old son, in a second-floor bedroom.”

Firefighters and paramedics gave CPR to family in the front yard, Evans said.

“They were all transported to local hospitals in critical condition, with burn injuries and smoke inhalation, but were later pronounced dead,” Evans said.

The fire was kept from spreading to other homes, Evans said.

Investigators were trying to learn Thursday morning what caused the fire, but it appeared to have started on the first floor, Evans said. Investigators, he explained, believe the parents ran upstairs to rescue their son, but then the fire trapped them on the second floor.

“The fire had consumed the first floor and cut off all means of (escape),” Evans said. As it progressed to the stairwell, the open space pulled the fire up like a chimney where it spread through the second floor and into the attic.

“It is not known if there were functioning smoke detectors in the house. There were also two family dogs that lost their lives in the fire as well.”
By Bill Miller in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram