Firefighters from several departments responded in sweltering heat on Wednesday, May 30, to a house fire on Hawthorn Street in Houston.
Two firefighters battling the blaze were taken to the county hospital with heat exhaustion.
The blaze at the 517 Hawthorn home, owned by Lynn and Mary Gayer, apparently started in a storage unit and spread to the house (situated between Bryan and Dooley streets), authorities said. The storage area was attached to the home.
The Houston Fire Department and Houston Rural Fire Department were activated around 12:15 p.m. The Cabool Fire Department also arrived. An ambulance was called to be on standby.
At 1:40 p.m., personnel was requested from the Raymondville and Licking fire departments. At 2 p.m., extra personnel from Mountain Grove and Roby were called. Mountain Grove stayed in its community in the event it was needed to cover for Cabool.
Two firefighters were taken by ambulance to Texas County Memorial Hospital with heat exhaustion at about 1:45 p.m.Â
Neighbors were first on the scene and used a garden hose to attempt to put out the fire. When firefighters arrived, several onlookers helped remove items from the front porch.
The last fire truck left the scene at 9:40 p.m.