The fire broke out around 1pm in the laundry room at Long Point Plaza Apartments in the 1700 block of Woodvine at Jalna.
The Houston Fire Department was able to extinguish the flames, but the damage left at least eight families without a home. Many of them, like Enrique Rodriguez and his wife, lost all of their belongings in the blaze.
"We all were inside the apartment when we saw the fire. We all got out," Rodriguez said. "Now we just lost everything. We had everything in there, so I don't know what's going to happen."
Fire officials believe the blaze started in the laundry room. It quickly ripped through eight units at the complex.
"The fire extended very quickly once it reached the attic," HFD Deputy Fire Chief Terry Stone said.
According to Stone, firefighters were able to save another apartment building sitting just a few feet away.
Nearby residents told us this is not the first time a fire has started in that laundry room.
"It's the third time it goes on, a fire in that room," one neighbor said.
"Oh, they've had this issue forever," another told us.
Fire officials said this part of the city has kept firefighters busy recently.
"I do know that we've had several fires in this end of town on the west side recently where we've had Laundromat fires that have extended into the apartments," Stone said.
No one was injured in Saturday's fire. The exact cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
