House on Highway E destroyed by fire

Personnel from the Houston Rural Fire Department braved frigid temperatures to respond to a house fire Tuesday night on Highway E north of Houston.

Houston Rural Chief Don Gaston said that when neighbors called 911 at about 6 p.m., it was already too late, and when firefighters arrived flames were going through the roof and out of every widow.

“We didn’t have a chance,” Gaston said. “By the time we got there, it was fully engulfed.”

At first, there was concern for the well-being of the man who lived at the residence, because his truck was there. But contact was made with him and it turned out he had gone to Ava in his girlfriend’s vehicle.

The temperature was in the single digits during the response.

“We were covered with ice,” said assistant chief Robbie Smith.

The Raymondville Fire Department assisted by bringing a tanker truck.

Authorities said the blaze might have been caused by an unattended space heater.