A man is accused of setting fire to his Dallas apartment after a domestic dispute, sparking a blaze that consumed the building and displaced 24 people, including 11 children, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue.
The fire broke out Thursday night at the Buena Vista Apartments on Altoona Drive in southwest Oak Cliff, just off South Cockrell Hill Road.
Fire investigators said a man living in one of the apartments started the fire after a domestic dispute. He was injured and treated at a hospital before being booked into jail on an arson charge, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue. As of late Friday, he had not been identified.
Families were beginning to process the sudden loss Friday as work got underway to clear debris from the property.
“Pretty much everything is wet, flooded,” resident Aimee Sanchez said.
Sanchez said the night had started quietly before she heard a disturbance.
“It was a group of people – they were screaming – and after that we just heard banging,” Sanchez said.
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She then saw the fire from her apartment.
“As soon as I walked downstairs, we had a glass sliding glass door right here, and that’s where I saw the bright orange, the fire, the flames,” Sanchez said.
The Red Cross is helping 24 people, including 11 children, whose homes were either lost or sustained smoke and water damage.
Dallas ISD community liaisons were also assisting families, including helping students get new school uniforms ahead of their return to class Monday.
For Kevin Guillen, the fire has changed how the beginning of his 11th-grade year looks. He said he had hoped to participate in cross-country but may instead return to work to help his family.
“I wanted to do cross-country, but as this is going on – I don’t think I’m going to be doing that because I might be getting back to working – to support them,” Guillen said.
As cleanup continued, Sanchez said she was grateful her family made it out safely.
“Thanks to the Lord – we are alive – and well, the economical stuff – we can work for it as we go,” Sanchez said.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication.
