Atascocita home reduced to ashes in devastating fire days before Thanksgiving

HOUSTON - A homeowner and their pets are safe after a fire destroyed their home in Atascocita. It happened around 12:30 p.m. on Monday on Fernbank Forest Drive. 

Tragedy struck Monday afternoon when a home in Atascocita was reduced to ashes just two days before Thanksgiving.

"Yesterday I saw a flash. I had my back turned. I heard a boom. Not sure if it was an explosion from whatever happened in the garage or if it was from a lightning strike," said Glenn Wilhelm, a neighbor. 

Atascocita's firefighters and several other fire agencies raced to put out the raging fire.

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"They could barely contain the flames, you know, it was really a strong fire," said Alvaro Espino, another neighbor. 

"The whole garage was engulfed in flames," said Wilhelm. 

The homeowners were not in the house at the time of the fire, but their two dogs, Mollie and Maverick were inside. 

"Our firefighters went in the house, quickly located the dogs, and brought them out. They were in fairly poor condition when they brought them out," said Jerry Dillard, of the Atascocita Fire Department. 

"The fire company came in to grab the dogs. They were limp," said Wilhelm. 

With the smoke still billowing from the Atascocita home, it was a desperate race to save the two Labs.

"They took them to the paramedics. The paramedics put them on oxygen. Each of our trucks has a special canine-sized oxygen mask or multiples, and they were able to revive the dog and reunite the dogs with the owners," said Dillard. 

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The home was completely ruined due to the blaze.

"For the people that live in the home, it’s not a house, it’s a home. It will affect them much longer than the people who work on the day of the fire. It’s their home, and they’ll likely be affected for months longer," said Dillard. 

"Thank god everybody’s safe. You know, nobody’s in the house, and thank God they rescued the dogs," said Alvaro Espino. 

"It’s great news that the dogs are safe and nobody got hurt. We’re thankful for that," said Wilhelm.