AFD: Firefighter injured, person of interest detained after apartment fire in northeast Austin
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A firefighter was injured, and a person of interest was detained by police after a two-alarm fire was reported at a vacant apartment complex in northeast Austin, Austin Fire Department Assistant Chief Andre De La Reza said during a media briefing Friday night.
AFD responded to the fire around 8 p.m. at 2620 Wheless Lane where crews arrived to find “fire through the roof with lots of flames,” De La Reza said.
He said crews “found fire through the roof and on three different units in the back side, and all of the front side second floor windows were showing fire.”
“When crews arrived on scene, the awning was collapsing from the second floor,” De La Reza said.
He said the apartment was boarded up, and no one should have been inside. Crews did “a rapid first and secondary search quickly.” However, De La Reza said the fire fighters then went into a “defensive operation” and pulled units out to fight the fire from outside.
“Once we verify there’s nobody inside, we pull outside because it was an abandoned structure, and we weren’t going to endanger our personnel,” he said.
De La Reza said a second alarm was called around 8:19 p.m. due to needing additional resources. He said this was a “very dangerous situation” since there was the potential of a “structural collapse.” More than 70 firefighters responded to the scene.
AFD said the fire was out around 9:30 p.m., and crews will continue to monitor overnight to ensure there are no flare-ups.
De La Reza said a firefighter was also injured and was being evaluated by EMS, but the injuries were not life-threatening.
It was not immediately clear what led to the fire, which remained under investigation Friday.
