2 Dead, Several Rescued In East Austin Structure Fire: Officials

Austin TX

17 February, 2021

12:41 PM

Description

AUSTIN, TX – Two people were killed in a structure fire Wednesday morning that sent another person to the hospital with critical injuries and that also injured three other people, Austin Fire officials said. Multiple victims were rescued from the structure, which is located in the 2900 block of East 12th Street, and that caught fire just before 11 a.m. Wednesday. Officials said that six victims were involved in the fire and that two people have been pronounced dead at the scene while another person was taken to the hospital with critical, possibly life-threatening injuries. Three other people sustained minor injuries and were treated at the scene, according to Austin-Travis County EMT officials, who said that the search of the structure found that no one else was in the building. A neighbor reported the fire at 10:48 a.m. and firefighters arrived to find flames coming out of a window. According to fire officials, one person had escaped the home when firefighters arrived, but reported that five other people were still inside. Four #ATCEMS ambulances & Commander on scene supporting @AustinFireInfo. #ATCEMSMedics have transported 1 patient with critical life threatening injuries & obtained 1 deceased on scene pronouncement. More information to follow. https://t.co/QgkAYlLR1M— ATCEMS (@ATCEMS) February 17, 2021The Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday that the home is considered a total loss and that officials are still working to determine what caused the deadly blaze. According to Austin Energy, the home — which is located just west of Airport Boulevard — is located in an area of the city that was without power at the time of the fire. According to Austin Power's outage maps, that area had been without power since 2 a..m. on Wednesday. "We are aware of reports that it might have been attributed to some sort of indoor warming fire, but we won't have a final official cause for a while,"Austin Fire Division Chief Stephen Truesdell told the newspaper.