Four rescued from boarding house fire in Houston’s Midtown

Firefighters rescued four residents trapped inside a burning apartment at a boarding house Monday morning in Houston’s Midtown.

The fire, while not terribly severe, started around 11 a.m. somewhere in a second-story room inside the boarding facility in the 3800 block of Brandt Street, just south of West Alabama Street. Firefighters found smoke coming out of the small, 32-room building and learned there were four people trapped inside the room that was ablaze, according to Houston Fire Department Deputy Chief Richard Galvan.

Firefighters were able to pull the trapped residents to safety, some of whom were rescued through a second-story window, Galvan said. Paramedics treated all four on scene as firefighters tackled the blaze.

Only one room was damaged by fire, although some areas of the building have smoke damage, Galvan said. How the fire started remains to be seen, but HFD’s arson investigators are working to determine its origins.