Man severely burned, woman dies after fire in NW Houston

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - "I've never witnessed anything like this," says Charlene Williams as she stood outside of her home Sunday morning gazing out at her neighbors' property.

She had known the people that lived inside for more than 20 years. The sounds of emergency responders and a large fire woke her up around 2 a.m.

"I heard the popping and the cracking and I was trying to figure out what it was and then when my brother-in-law came to the door and that's when he said it was a fire. Then I came outside and that's when I saw Frank. He was standing over on the fence and he couldn't get out because he had the gates all locked up so the fire department had to cut the gates loose to get in there," says Williams.

Houston Fire Department officials confirmed the man found was Francisco Estrada, 50, and that he lived in the home with his mother Celia Estrada.

"When they arrived on the scene there was a gentleman with severe burns, he was outside the property. One of our units medic 62 took him to, transported him to Hermann hospital," says public information officer Mario Gallegos.

Fire crews searched the house and found Celia Estrada in a front corner of the house. Paramedics began CPR on her, but she died at the scene. Francisco suffered burns covering more than 40 percent of his body and was last listed in critical condition at Memorial Hermann.

Arson crews are still investigating the cause of the fire.