Crews Battle Several Thanksgiving Day Fires

One blaze destroys three homes in Cockrell Hill

North Texas firefighters were busy with at least half a dozen fires on Thanksgiving Day, many of which started while people were cooking for Thanksgiving.

One of the largest fires occurred at about 6 a.m. in the 400-block of Sunnyside Avenue in Cockrell Hill. The fire broke out in a vacant house, then spread to the house next door where an elderly couple had moved in last May.

Neighbors worried it would spread to other homes.

“That fire was so intense and hot, we could feel it from the inside of our house,” neighbor Ray Resendez said.

Neighbors rescued the elderly couple from their burning home as their frightened relatives arrived and saw the fire trucks.

“They thought they could have perished in the fire.  They didn’t know if they were dead or alive,” said neighbor Priscilla Mendoza Barrientos.

Lucino Hernandez, 81 and his wife Isabel, 77, were planning to host their first Thanksgiving in the house for family.

Friends and neighbors helped move the gathering to another relative’s house where the couple received shelter.

Otilia Hernandez, who lives across the street, said the vacant house where the fire started had a troubled history.

“Back when we were teenagers, two brothers were shot in the front," Hernandez said.

No one was seriously injured in any of the fires.
 

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