A fast-moving fire tore through three floors of the Newport Apartments in Irving on the night of September 25, prompting a rapid evacuation effort by police officers who cleared 30 units in just six minutes before anyone was seriously hurt.
The blaze was reported around 9:30 p.m. and quickly escalated to a two-alarm fire. Irving firefighters responded to battle the flames while nine police officers sprinted from door to door to get residents out of the burning building.
Newly released video captured the chaos just two and a half minutes after the first 911 call was made. Voices can be heard shouting “Get out, get out, get out!” as smoke poured from the structure and alarms blared in the background.
Officer Maria Herring was among the officers on scene and described the urgency of the situation. She recalled waking up a sleeping mother and her two children who had no idea the fire was spreading around them.
Herring said officers knew they had to act fast even without firefighting training. “We’re not trained to fight fires, certainly, but we’re going to save a life” she said. “If that means we have to put our lives on the line to save a life, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
Resident Johnson Spruiel said he was preparing for bed when officers arrived at his door. He rushed outside barefoot to find smoke billowing from the top of the building and a crowd of displaced neighbors gathering in the parking lot.
“It wasn’t until the police officer showed up that I realized something was really wrong” Spruiel said. He added that police guided evacuees to a safe location just as fire trucks pulled onto the scene.
More than a dozen residents were displaced by the fire. No injuries were reported despite the speed and scale of the blaze.
Spruiel said he was in the process of packing his belongings when he spoke to reporters, noting that the damaged building is expected to be demolished. Despite losing his home, he expressed relief that everyone made it out safely.
Irving police credited the coordinated response between officers and firefighters for preventing what could have been a deadly disaster. The cause of the fire has not been publicly confirmed.