Man killed in Fort Worth house fire; woman critically injured, officials say
Officials are investigating a fire in southeast Fort Worth that killed one person, critically injured another and sent two firefighters to the hospital early Thursday.
Fire crews received the call about a fire in the 3500 block of Avenue J in the Polytechnic neighborhood about 2:45 a.m. They arrived in four minutes, according to department spokesperson Craig Trojacek, and found flames coming from the front of the house.
A woman was found in the back of the home and transported to a lcoal hospital in critical condition via CareFlite, Trojacek said. A man found in the front part of the house died at the scene.
A third person was uninjured but displaced by the fire, according to Trojacek. The American Red Cross arrived to assist the individual.
Family members identified the man who died as 37-year-old Jaime Martinez, according to KXAS-TV reporting. He was on oxygen and had limited mobility, the family said.
Jayme Luna, a neighbor, told KXAS that he and a friend saw what was happening at the home and tried to extinguish the flames with a water hose.
“It was just too much fire,” he said.
Trojacek said stuff was piled up throughout the house, which made it harder to access the structure and get victims out. Two firefighters were taken to a hospital with apparent heat exhaustion, but are expected to make a full recovery.
It was a long day for the fire crews, Trojacek said. Some of them had already responded to the boating accident that killed two people Wednesday morning.
“We have a really good team of chaplains and mental health providers,” Trojacek said. “We have resources ... from a mental health standpoint to make sure our people are taken care of.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
