Morning blaze demolishes home Posted On: Tuesday, Nov. 3 2009 05:09 AM By Mason W. Canales
Killeen Daily Herald

An early Monday morning fire destroyed a home in the 3000 block of Cantabrian Drive in Killeen. The blaze left two residents uninjured but without a home.

The Killeen Fire Department responded to the destructive blaze after neighbors called 911 at 7:22 a.m. Monday, Killeen Fire Marshal James Chism said.

Four fire engines, a rescue truck, a command vehicle and multiple support vehicles responded to suppress the fire, Chism said.

"It appears that the fire originated on or around that front porch," Chism said.

The fire leapt from the front porch into the attic of the home from outside the structure, Killeen Fire Department Deputy Chief Steve Buchanan said. Once in the small attic, the fire quickly spread across the home.

Firefighters attacked the fire from the outside of the home and extinguished the blaze within hours, but kept putting out hot spots until after noon.

One resident was at home at the time of the blaze, and had to flee though the back door of the building because of the flames on the porch, Buchanan said.

Laikeshia Brunson was walking to school when she saw smoke in the distance, she said.

When Brunson realized it was her friend's house, she called 911, she said. She was worried about her friend, but was instantly relieved when she saw her escape the fire.

"I was walking, and I could see the smoke," Brunson said. "I didn't even know it was her. .. I had seen her coming out through the gate and I saw her crying and coughing, too."

Yalanda Young, who lives next to the home that the fire destroyed, woke up to other neighbors banging on her door, she said. Because the houses are close together, Young rushed outside, where she saw people gathered and her neighbor's patio ablaze, she said.

"Was anybody in there? That was my first thought," Young said. "Trying to get my son out of here was the next greatest concern."

Young worried that the fire would either jump from her neighbor's property to hers or catch some nearby trees on fire, she said.

The fire department quelled the flames before they spread to any additional homes, Buchanan said.

The two residents, who lived in the home, are currently being helped by the American Red Cross, Buchanan said.

Fire investigators are investigating the cause of the blaze, Chism said.

Contact Mason W. Canales at mcanales@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7554.