The fire started around 4:40am on Minola and Rodrigo.
Firefighters arrived on scene within minutes with embers showing from the street of a three-story town home building. Fire officials say tThe fire began in the downstairs patio of one unit and spread through the void space into the third level of a second town home.
Firefighters requested additional units to assist in searching the adjourning units for other occupants. Approximately 90 firefighters responded to the incident. The fire was contained within an hour.
"There are wooden beams that kind of form a lattice on the back of each of these apartments," said Fire Chief Jay Evans with the Houston Fire Department. "These beams are looked to be 4 by 4 and 4 by 6 and once the fire got started they just continued because it is all open space. They are attached to the balconies of the outside patios on the back. This wood just burned all the way up to the third floor."
There were no reported injuries. Two town homes suffered extensive smoke and water damage. The adjoining units suffered from only minor smoke damage.
Investigators say the cause of this fire will be ruled accidental.
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