Two-alarm apartment fire burns at least 1, displaces several families

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Sixteen families are homeless after a two-alarm apartment fire in southwest Houston, and at least one person was injured. That victim suffered minor burns and was treated at the scene.

Firefighters were called out to the Waverly Apartments on Hayes Road near Wickersham around 3:30am. They arrived to find flames shooting from one apartment building.

A total of 16 units were damaged, as flames spread from one apartment unit to the next.

Resident Jason Edwards said, "It started in the middle apartment and then the flames just shot up. The next minute the whole apartment was up in flames."

More than a dozen residents woke up to the sound of sirens and firefighters.

"It's devastating," said resident Maria Delgado. "I lived here by myself so all my life was pretty much here."

Delgado was out of town when it happened. She came home to find her belongings, her life reduced to a laundry basket.

"I'm trying to keep myself from not breaking down but it's hard, it's very hard," she said.

Authorities say a total of 16 apartments were consumed in the heavy smoke and flames. The damage so severe, everyone must find a new place to call home.

And as arson investigators look into the cause, residents comb through what's left of their homes to try and salvage what they can.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Red Cross will help those displaced by the fire.