It happened at a home on Brown Trail at Lakewood Field Drive in northwest Harris County. The blaze got so big that extra crews had to be brought in to help get it under control. Fire crews were able to keep it from spreading to other nearby homes.
Family and friends are picking through what is left of the Rivas family's home after the two-alarm fire devoured it Monday morning. They are finding some things perfectly intact, others charred.
"We're fortunate. We have some great friends and family helping us out," said homeowner Roy Rivas.
The fire broke out at about 2:30am and before the smoke alarms even went off, the whole family -- Roy, his wife and his 12-year-old and 9-year-old sons -- were out the door, taking their two dogs with them.
"I woke up to some cracking noises. The home was engulfed in flames and this room was glowing orange," said Rivas.
"When I got from the master to the living room, all you could see was just fire," said homeowner Michelle Rivas.
Roy tried to put the fire out with a hose and then watched the flames from his parents' house across the street. It took 50 firefighters, most from the Cypress Creek Volunteer Fire Department, to get the blaze out.
The family had done some remodeling two years ago and they believe the cause of the fire was electrical.
"There was an arc in one of the outlets and that was in the addition," said Roy.
After living there for 12 years, all that's left for the Rivas family is to do is take what they can then rebuild.
"We'll start over," he said.
No one was injured in the blaze.
