FORT WORTH, Texas — A vacant home with a historic landmark designation in Fort Worth caught fire and was fully engulfed in flames late Tuesday night, officials said.
Fort Worth firefighters responded to 2117 NW 24th St., in the city's North Side neighborhood, at about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday.
Video from a witness showed the home fully engulfed in flames as crews responded and worked to put it out. By 1 a.m., crews had the fire extinguished.
Nayeoi Diaz Deleon got a telephone call from a neighbor about the house fire. She dropped everything including her food, and rushed outside as the first firefighters were at work.
"They had to get more firefighters on the line," Deleon said. "It first started off as firefighters and it went up to five or six. And they were trying the best they could with a lot of water hoses."
No injuries were reported, and it didn't appear anyone was home when the fire happened. Fire officials said the fire was contained to the home but that it caused heavy damage.
The property has historic designation, according to a city zoning map. A City of Fort Worth Landmark sign is outside of the home. The signs are given to properties that are either designated as a historic property of "contributing property" in a historic district.
The 2,040-square-foot home, which is two stories and has four large pillars across a front porch area, was built in 1909 and known as the Brown/Tadlock House, according to fire officials.
"Because it was there for a long time known as the White House or the Mansion House," said Deleon, "It has made a big impact on this neighborhood and has been very special to us."
Initially built for Benjamin B. Brown, the home was later sold in 1919 to James A. Tadlock, a successful livestock dealer and broker, officials said. The Tadlock family owned the house until 1978.
"We're not going to see it the same anymore," Deleon said. "Sadly."
Gabrielle Castaenda has lived in the area for more than 20 years. She said she could not believe her eyes when she saw the flames.
"We just saw the flames was like going crazy," Castaenda said.
After witnessing the fire, Castaenda came back to see the damage. During the fire, the raging flames gave her family a scare.
"We thought it was going to get back to the power lines," Castaenda said. "We thought it was going to hit [my mother's] house," said Gabrielle Castaenda.
As Investigators work to learn what started the fire, neighbors wonder what will happen to the landmark home and the unique architecture it brought to their neighborhood.
"It looks almost like those houses in Virginia, like the wraparound porches and stuff like that, like the colonial homes," Castaenda said. "I guess they'll either demolish it, redo it or just let the history go."
Officials have not provided more information about the fire or how it started. Check back for more details.
Clarification: WFAA initially reported the home was built in 1957, the year listed in Tarrant Appraisal District records. Fort Worth Fire Department officials later provided more information on the home's history, dating back to 1909.
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