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Victims Of Far Northwest Austin Fire Stunned At Devastation


The Red Cross says 68 apartments were lost in Thursday morning's apartment fire in far Northwest Austin.

The strong north wind that blew in overnight changed the course of many lives at the International Residence Apartments.

“I don't have anything except for the clothes on my back, my cats, my purse, and my car, if it's still over there. That's pretty much it. I'll be starting all over from scratch,” says Dominque Simmons, one of the residents at the complex.

She was just days away from moving into her new home, when the sheriff came pounding at her door. “I kind of didn't know what to really do at that point, so I just grabbed myself, my wallet and my two cats and got out of the house,” Simmons said.

Now there is nothing left for her to move. And she is not alone.

The Northwest Fellowship Church was filled with dozens of others who lost everything to the fire

“I know that there's nothing left, the only thing left standing is the stairs, which were metal and concrete,” says another resident, Tammy Ince.

But the Red Cross and the community have been quick to respond

“We are establishing a shelter, a place for these residents who have been displaced to come and rest their head. We’re also going to be providing food -- breakfast lunch and dinner, snacks in between, and then we are going to establish what they lost,” says Jose Dominguez, with the Red Cross.

Investigators are still on scene trying to figure out what started the fire.