Austin firefighters extinguished a fire at an apartment complex on Barton Skyway, stopping the flames before they could reach other units in the building. Crews responded to the scene at 2901 Barton Skyway, and road closures that had gone into effect during the response have since been cleared.
Flames Contained Before Spreading Further
According to the Austin Fire Department, as reported by CBS Austin, firefighters were able to knock down the fire before it spread into neighboring apartments within the complex. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and officials have not released additional details about how it started or whether anyone was displaced as a result.
Road closures in the area have been cleared. No further information about the scope of the damage from this incident has been made public.
Same Complex Saw Deadly Fire in 2019
The address has a troubled fire history. Back in July 2019, a two-alarm fire tore through the same complex, then known as The Woods on Barton Skyway, killing two people and displacing nine residents, according to KXAN. That fire was first reported at 4:25 a.m. and began on the balcony of a second-floor apartment before spreading to the attic, the station reported. As of 9:15 a.m. that day, fire officials said they had not yet determined a cause.
The American Red Cross of Central Texas assisted the nine people displaced by the 2019 blaze, per the same KXAN account. Officials at the time estimated roughly $500,000 in structural damage and another $250,000 in damage to the contents of the apartments. The estimated total damage was about $750,000.
A Complex With a History of Major Fires
The 2019 fire was not an isolated event for the property. KXAN reported that, since 2011, two other major fires had been reported at the complex before that deadly blaze. It is not clear from available records whether Wednesday's fire adds to that tally, since no official incident report detailing this latest fire's scope, damage, or casualty count has been released.
The City of Austin also lists a public dataset titled Real-Time Fire Incidents, according to data.austintexas.gov. For now, the cause of this fire remains under investigation, and Hoodline will update this story as the Austin Fire Department releases more information.
