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Austin Firefighters Find Cat In Rubble


Ajante Baltrip thought she lost everything in a late night apartment fire, including her beloved cat Eyori. But after several hours, firefighters found Eyori hiding under a couch in a burned apartment. As Firefighters handed Ajante her cat she began to cry, "I'm just happy she's alive."

It's a glimmer of hope for a woman who almost all of her possessions. Baltrip was placed in a vacant apartment she has to share with another tenant. A total of 30 people are now homeless. Investigators say a flammable object next to a water heater sparked the fire.

We checked in with the city's code enforcement department to see if the Promontory Point Apartments had any code violations. In a list dating back to 2002, the complex had fixed most of the issues and the most recent problems had to do with water leaks and mold, but nothing that suggested a fire danger.

The fire did cause major structural damage. Typically, residents are allowed to go inside their apartment and salvage anything left. Batallion Chief Palmer Buck says that may not be possible in this situation. "Right now, the structural stability of about half of the units has been compromised, so we're not ready to let people back in and we may not be able to let people back in to three or four apartments."

By Lydia Pantazes