By Mike Glenn
The Houston Chronicle
PASADENA, Texas — A fire that gutted a Pasadena apartment building Monday apparently began in the common attic then spread rapidly, officials said.
Flames were shooting through the roof shortly after 4 p.m. when Pasadena firefighters pulled into the Cinnamon Ridge apartments in the 6500 block of the Spencer Highway.
“The fire ran the span of the attic,” said Pasadena Fire Marshal David Brannon. “The wind didn’t help us any.”
The fast-moving fire destroyed 16 units in the building. No injuries were reported, officials said.
Paul McCullough was playing a computer flight simulator game when he smelled something burning. He thought it might have been the apartment’s heater.
But looking outside after someone banged on his front door, he saw flames reaching 20-30 feet above the two-story apartment building.
“The smoke was getting thick. I couldn’t breathe,” said McCullough. “I had to get out of there.”
He lived at the apartment with his mother, Joan McCullough, and sister, Theresa McCullough.
His mother arrived home from work shortly after the fire broke out. They began rounding up several house pets.
In the haste to rescue the animals, Joan McCullough forgot to grab the insulin she takes for diabetes. The medicine was in the refrigerator.
“I grabbed the cats but not the medicine,” she said.
McCullough said she was concerned about the fate of one of their cats, named Tigger, they were unable to find.
But, she said the hardest loss may be a couple of boxes of cherished family photos - including those of her husband, Timothy, who died in 2007.
“We’re just thankful that we’re alive,” her son added.
Although the apartment building sustained heavy damage from the blaze, Pasadena fire officials said they would try to retrieve critical items, such as medicine, once the blaze is completely under control.
McCullough said apartment managers told them the displaced residents would be moved to other units in the complex.
The fire’s cause remains under investigation, officials said.
Some residents said other fires have occurred in the complex. Pasadena officials said that would be part of the inquiry, but they don’t believe there is a connection.
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