Fort Worth fire officials are investigating a deadly house fire.
The fire started just after 10 A.M. Saturday morning. Family members who live there say three of them were able to escape, but the flames and smoke were so strong, one young woman couldn't get out in time.
“I turned around, I heard something BOOM, and I ran out and hollered ‘FIRE, y'all get out, get out,’” said resident Betty Martin.
Martin has lived in the home with her husband since 1962. They were there with their 40-year-old niece, Desiree Baqui, at the time, and her 22-year-old daughter Khaliqa, who also went by Angel.
“I got out first, then my husband, then when I didn't see them coming, and I hollered and said, ‘Y'all come on out’ and they said, ‘We can't’. I looked around and said, ‘Get down and crawl,’ so her mother did.”
Angel wasn’t able to get out. Neighbors described their attempts to
Dennis Stewart says he and his two house mates tried to get the 22-year-old woman out of the front bedroom.
“I ran up to the house, tried to get into the house. I went probably 12-15 feet into the house, the flames were to the right of me. It was just smoky. So I got out,” said Dennis Stewart. “And then we tried breaking the windows out, I tried hooking up the hose, it was chaotic. Nothing we could do.”
Firefighters say they arrived to find flames shooting out of the front of the house. They eventually found Angel still inside.
“Our hearts go out to these residents here, our firefighters never want to see anything happen to anybody, and we're very sad when we have this kind of news,” said Mike Drivdahl with the Fort Worth Fire Department.
One firefighter was taken to the hospital with a minor leg injury. The family says their niece was taken to the hospital with second degree burns and is expected to be okay. They are still coming to terms with the loss of Angel.
“She's gonna leave a big gap, because she's well loved,” said Betty Martin. “I'm asking everybody to pray for us.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.