A wildfire in the southern Tarrant County town of Rendon destroyed three homes Tuesday night and damaged a total of nine buildings. The Tarrant County fire marshal says the fire appears to have started in one home's kitchen.
Because of the location, Fire Marshal Randy Renois says crews had to shuttle tankers to truck in a water supply. Renois also says the heat that allowed the fire to spread quickly also required crews to cycle on and off the lines more often.
"The heat is a big factor because it takes a big toll on the firemen," he says.
A total of 17 fire departments responded to help Rendon.
"It's lucky nobody got hurt. It's lucky the whole neighborhood didn't go up," one man who lives on the same street said. "I think if the wind had been blowing a different direction, we'd have been in bad trouble."
People who live nearby were told to evacuate and spend the night at a church nearby.
"The entire house was on fire, and the trailer was on fire," another neighbor said. "It was in the span of about 15 minutes. I was pretty shaken."
Firefighters had the fire out Tuesday night, but Wednesday morning, areas of smoke were still rising from rubble. One man who lives nearby was taking pictures, saying he knows every family involved.
"It's a pretty quiet neighborhood, really. There's been a lot of tragedy this year. We've had a few people die on the block. Thank goodness it didn't happen again today," he says. "Other than that, it's been a pretty quiet community. We've all lived here for years and years and years."
The Rendon Fire Department says crews were at the scene most of the night to ensure no embers would spark a new fire. The department says people on a road a block away were reporting embers landing near their homes.
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