Fire rips through apartment building near downtown

The fire ripped through the building and spread to two nearby houses and another apartment building. Arson investigators were trying to determine what sparked the blaze. The fire ripped through the building and spread to two nearby houses and another apartment building. Arson investigators were trying to determine what sparked the blaze. Photo: Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle Photo: Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Fire rips through apartment building near downtown 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

A fast-moving fire early Wednesday morning ripped through a vacant apartment building and two small houses near downtown.

The blaze broke out about 2:40 a.m. on Anita near Live Oak, according to the Houston Fire Department.

Officials said no injuries were reported. Arson investigators were trying to determine what sparked the blaze.

The flames destroyed the small two-story apartment building and the houses next door as well damaged another house and small apartment building. Only a blackened stairway of the destroyed apartments was left standing. The destroyed houses were blackened and burned out.

The fire spread quickly, racing from structure to structure, said residents in the area.

Shaun Muckleroy, 26, who lives in the damaged home, said one of his roommates woke him up. When he looked out his bedroom window, he saw orange flames leaping from the building next door. Then firefighters told them to get out of the house.

"By the time I came out," Muckleroy said, "it was a massive fire."

The man who owned the ruined apartment building asked not to be identified and said he had been renovating it for more than a year. He said he planned to have the rental property as a family investment. But, he said, probably would not rebuild.

"I thought I'd have the property for my kids," he said, "but now it's gone."

Neighborhood residents gathered in small groups watching firefighters sift through the smoldering piles of debris hours after the flames were extinguished.

Cedric Anderson, 55, has lived in the area for years. He said he and his father had lived together in the ruined apartment building for 12 years before moving out. Much of the neighborhood's past is being lost, he said. Older homes are being torn down or destroyed. "I hate to see we're losing some of the houses," he said. "It takes something from me. You hate to lose some history."

Chronicle photographer Cody Duty contributed to this report