MESQUITE, Texas — A man was killed and a firefighter was injured in a fire at an apartment complex after Mesquite fire officials were trying to treat a patient and an oxygen tank ignited, fire officials said Wednesday.
On Tuesday night, Mesquite fire crews responded to a medical call at the County Club Apartments complex near Interstate 635 and La Prada Drive. According to fire officials, the man was suffering from a heart attack and crews began CPR.
Firefighters then began to administer oxygen to the patient from a tank, fire officials said. That is when they saw a flash and the apartment caught fire. The official cause of the fire is still under investigation.
In a news release later Wednesday, officials said firefighters treated the patient for 8-10 minutes before the fire happened.
Officials say fire crews did not have their fire gear on and had to evacuate. Firefighters tried to get the patient out, but were not able to evacuate the patient with them, fire officials said.
Once crews were able to get their fire gear on, they were unable to go back inside to rescue the patient due to the amount of fire that had spread from unit to unit.
Officials on the scene said the fire spread so easily, due to there being no wall barriers between the units in the attic area.
"I've been here 30 years and I've never had this happen, never seen this happen," said Fire Captain John Moore.
Fire officials believe the patient died from a heart attack.
One firefighter was taken to the hospital for second-degree burns on his hands. He was released later Wednesday.
While fire crews believed the oxygen tank played a part in the fire, the official cause is under investigation. Nine Mesquite Fire Department units responded to the fire, including 25 firefighters. Dallas Fire-Rescue also assisted on the call, sending four units with 14 firefighters.
The fire impacted 24 apartments and a total of 40 residents. Power was disconnected to the complex.
Shynay Potts, a resident at the complex, said that she smelled smoke and there were power outages before she saw the flames.
"I came out and I was like oh my goodness smoke was everywhere and flames were everywhere," Potts said. "It was like literally right across from my apartment."
She said people were banging on doors to get everyone out of the apartment complex.
"I feel bad...it’s terrible what has happened," Potts said. "But I'm just hoping I still have some stuff left to go back to since I was so close. I’m scared I maybe have water damage and stuff like that I'm not sure at this point."
An online fundraiser was created to donate to the 22 families that were impacted to help rebuild their lives. https://gf.me/v/c/cxr/uw52w-apartment-fire