AUSTIN, Texas — Four units of a condominium community were destroyed after a fire early Tuesday morning in Central Austin's West Campus neighborhood.
According to the Austin Fire Department (AFD), 28 crew members initially responded at approximately 1:30 a.m. to the Twelve Oaks Condominiums in the 700 block of West 21st Street, not far from the University of Texas at Austin campus.
When they arrived, first responders located a fire between two walls of the 18-unit complex. The fire eventually spread to the third floor and up into the attic, and additional alarms were called.
All residents were evacuated from inside the building as 58 total firefighters rotated on scene because of the heat, according to AFD Shift Commander and Division Chief Eddie Martinez.
No injuries were reported, but eight adults are unable to return to their apartments as a result of the fire. AFD said the fire was accidental and was caused by "sweating pipes," which AFD said is more commonly known as "soldering pipes," an issue that, in this case, was the result of a plumber working on the pipes.
Lucy Barry said she woke up to the smell of smoke and blaring alarms, but praised the response of firefighters.
"They handled it brilliantly, like they were so good. Like, handing out water, giving us everything that we need. And like, it was awesome," Barry said. "But like, you could just see like, the smoke, like, coming from up above us. So it was pretty intense.”
Barry also said she had just moved to Austin from Australia the night before.
"I was like, passed out in bed. So that, I was like, 'Oh, what a nice welcome to the city,'" Barry said.
KVUE reached out to the American Red Cross. A team responded to the scene, but officials said UT will be helping those who were displaced.
We also reached out to UT, and a spokesperson said they were working to get us more information.
The Red Cross added that all 18 units of the complex were affected by the fire, but most were unoccupied. AFD said 33% of the units were destroyed by a combination of smoke, fire and water damage. Around 75% of residents should be safe to return to their homes following the clean-up process.
