At least one firefighter and four civilians were injured in Fort Worth as crews responded to a three-alarm fire at an apartment Tuesday morning, according to information shared by the fire department on social media.
The injured firefighter was being treated for smoke inhalation and is back on the job, according to Craig Trojacek, a public information officer for Fort Worth Fire Department. The four civilians were also injured by smoke inhalation, with two treated on the scene and two taken to the hospital.
Trojacek said 911 calls about the fire started coming in around 5:30 a.m. He said crews began arriving around 5:32 a.m.
"When they showed up, on arrival they already had fire through the roof on this complex," Trojacek said. "This fire was already well advanced prior to our arrival."
Trojacek said the first crews to arrive immediately called in a second alarm and began going through the complex to make sure residents were evacuated.
Around 7:30 a.m., the fire department posted that multiple families had been displaced and Red Cross workers were headed to the scene to help those families with emergency housing needs.
Because the fire had already broken through the roof of the apartment complex, Trojacek said crews evacuated residents and then fought the flames from ladder trucks, breaking in the roof even more to effectively combat the blaze.
Investigators on scene Tuesday morning were waiting for the structure to be determined safe for them to enter but will be investigating the cause of the fire.
This is the second fire in as many days where Fort Worth firefighters have been injured. Trojacek said two firefighters were taken to the hospital after an overnight blaze. Those two were still at the hospital as of 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Trojacek also said there was one incident where a fire truck was hit by a civilian vehicle driving through the scene and that hoses may be crossing scenes at the scene of a fire.
"Do not drive over our hoses, you can bust our lines and we may have individuals who are inside," Trojacek said. "That's our lifeline. If we run out of water on these fires and we're inside, our people could get hurt really bad or worse and we want to make sure we can get home to our families at the end of the day."
This developing story will be updated as more information becomes available.
KERA reporter Penelope Rivera contributed to this report.
James Hartley is the Fort Worth breaking news reporter and producer for KERA News. Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org.
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