Flames ripped through an upscale 3-story apartment complex as triple digit heat forced firefighters to work in shifts.

KVUE News

Alexan Vistas is a luxury apartment complex that is still under construction at 7201 FM 2222 near Jester Blvd.

The fire started on the roof of the apartment complex at 11:30 Thursday morning. When Austin firefighters arrived, there were only construction crews at the complex.

It’s still in the final stages of construction, so no one was living at the complex. The construction made putting out the fire more difficult. A spokesperson for the Austin Fire Department said most sprinkler systems had not been installed yet, and the ones that were installed were not activated.

There were also a lot of empty spaces between the units and the attic and rooftop. Those spaces allowed the fire to stay trapped until firefighters opened up the areas. When that happens, the fire erupts again.

Several times over the afternoon it seemed like the fire was out, but the black smoke would once again fill the sky above the apartment complex when the firefighters broke into those empty spaces.

At one point the flames reached several yards into the air and the smoke could be seen from the 45 toll road.

The firefighters faced added trouble with the soaring heat outside. They were switching crews every 15 to 20 minutes so that no one got over heated.

“It's extremely hot. You're putting on pants and coats with triple layers one of those layers being quilted lining, which is really nice when you're inside the fire, it keeps the heat off you but in weather like this, when you're outside the building or when you're (doing) manual labor it saps it out of you pretty quick," said AFD spokesperson, Dawn Clopton. "Most guys can work for 15-20 minutes before they need a break, we need to sit them down, hydrate them some, let them cool down some, get their cores cooled down before they get back to work.”

There were about 60 firefighters in all that responded to the fire, making it a two-alarm blaze.

Some of the crews were stationed on the ground within the hills surrounding the apartments. Since the complex is nestled and secluded within the hills, firefighters were worried that falling embers and debris could spark a fire on the dry brush. The crews on the ground stayed equipped with brush fire equipment, but it was not needed.

No word yet on just what caused the fire.

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