Fire kills one, leaves more than 20 displaced at Denton apartment complex

A fire at an apartment complex in Denton killed one person early Sunday morning and left more than 20 others displaced due to damage.

Neighbors told NBC 5 that the man killed was a Vietnam veteran who lived alone in the unit where the fire began.

The Denton Fire Department said they responded to a fire at the Ridgecrest apartments near 1200 Dallas Drive at about 2 a.m. and found a blaze that had spread to multiple units.

3:25 A.M. UPDATE TO 2-ALARM FIRE:

There is one fire fatality on this 2-alarm fire and one victim transported to a local hospital.

Fire under control at 2:47 a.m.

Red Cross notified for over 20 displaced victims at this 8-unit building. @cityofdentontx @DENTONPD pic.twitter.com/bU9ehGYwlY

— City of Denton Fire Department (@DentonFireDept) December 3, 2023

“I was woken up by my dog, and then when I came out, I saw the flames,” Crea Greene said. “So I just grabbed my shoes and my dog and I got out.”

The Red Cross is now helping victims impacted by the fire with temporary housing. Some of those neighbors affected described a tense scene to NBC 5.

“It was a lot of people outside, they were actually trying to help the people that were inside the burning unit get out of their apartment,” Greene said. “So most of the neighbors were breaking the windows and stuff, trying to get the people out.”

The fire started in an apartment on the ground floor, where one person was killed. Neighbors told NBC 5 that the victim was Roy Malone, a Vietnam veteran who lived by himself.

“We met him here. He’s always walking around, he’ll ask people to do favors for him just to help him out because he needs assistance,” Kristen Mims said. “He really shouldn’t be by himself all the time.”

“So the second that I saw it up in flames, I knew something, an accident must have happened,” she continued.

The Denton Fire Department told NBC 5 the cause of the fire was undetermined as of Sunday afternoon, as heavy debris in the apartment where the fire broke out made it difficult to track down the source.

For the moment, those displaced have been left to figure out what they would do next, many of them thinking of the family of the man killed in this disaster.

“That have to endure the death, or finding out the news of his death, before the holiday,” Greene said.