The incident happened around 10:15 p.m. on Monday night in the 9600 block of Riddlewood Lane, according to the Houston Fire Department. The apartment is located close to NRG Stadium, near the South Loop and Stella Link Road.
HFD said one of its firefighters on scene had to be transported to the hospital due to heat exhaustion. He has since been released, according to the agency.
Neighbors around the now-burned apartment told ABC13 they often saw suspicious activity around the vacant building.
One man told ABC13 that somebody reported seeing someone inside of the apartment building shortly before it caught fire.
"A girl walked up to my car and said there was a shadow inside the apartments," Matthew Robertson said. "Five minutes later, the whole building was up in flames."
HFD said that they are speaking with witnesses and persons of interest as part of their investigation into the cause of the blaze.
The Houston Police Department told ABC13 they've been called to the location a few times over the past six months, but only a robbery call and a suspicious person call amounted to anything.
ABC13 has also reached out to the City of Houston's Public Works Department to see if they've had any issues with the property in recent months.
The city has told ABC13 they're looking into the situation.
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