UPI
ARLINGTON, Texas — Two people — one an 11-year-old girl — died in a fast-moving apartment fire in Arlington, Texas, officials said.
The fire Saturday forced some residents to jump from a second-floor breezeway and at least one person fled the building in flames, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported Sunday.
“I ran outside and saw a man in the parking lot with his legs and hands on fire,” resident Karen Seabolt told the newspaper.
The 20-unit apartment and cars and trucks parked nearby were destroyed in the fire.
One victim was in critical condition with burns at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas and a woman was treated for burns that weren’t life-threatening at an Arlington hospital, said Jim Self, Arlington assistant fire chief.
The dead girl was identified as Erica Joyner. The other victim’s identity wasn’t immediately available, the report said.
The fire started about 1 p.m. Saturday at the Tanglewood Apartments. When firefighters arrived the second floor of the building was engulfed in flames.
Two people were unaccounted for, but there was speculation they weren’t home when the fire occurred, the newspaper said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, but Self said officials are “very curious” the building was burning so intensely when they arrived.
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