Northwest Austin apartment fire leaves 16 residents displaced

AUSTIN, Texas - Sixteen people are displaced after a two-alarm apartment fire in Northwest Austin.

The Austin Fire Department said the fire started early Thursday morning at an apartment on 8425 Bent Tree Road.

"We all know each other," said Rose Crawford, a resident at Bent Tree Apartments. "It’s a small community, almost. It was devastating."

Eight units were affected by the flames.

"They tried to put it down," said another resident. "That's crazy, but then the flames started coming out again, started going on."

In total, 16 people were displaced.

"If it wasn’t for the grace of God and a small wind, this whole place could’ve gone up," said Crawford.

Fire officials say no one reported any injuries.

"It was a miracle," said Crawford. "An absolute miracle."

Austin residents at Bent Tree apartments said a loud noise, almost like a gunshot or explosion, woke them up early Thursday morning.

"The sooner that I hear that explosion or that noise, I start hearing the firemen and the ambulances coming," said a resident. "A lot of them because they were really noisy, like traffic, you know. Usually, it's very quiet here."

Onlookers, immediately, began thinking of their neighbors, who lost just about everything.

"Oh my goodness," said the resident. "I hope that the people that live in there are okay, that there are no kids over there. That was my main concern."

Rose Crawford said she knows one of the families who lost their home. That family has one kid.

"One thing: you’re in shock," said Crawford. "You’ve lost almost everything. You had to really flee for your life, and if you had kids, you had to get them out, so you just can’t replace community, and that’s what Bent Tree is. It’s a community."

Now they are banding together to help their neighbors. The complex is asking for gift cards to get residents back on their feet.

"Just your prayers and just maybe monetary help, contact the Red Cross, contact our manager," said Crawford. "They’re going to be needing some help, that’s for sure."

Management says gift cards can be dropped off at the leasing office.

A resident also told FOX 7 they’ve created an email account for support efforts: emergencyrelief@amptexas.com.

They're asking for Walmart, Target, or even Visa gift cards because the office doesn’t have the storage to hold larger donations like food and clothes.

The residents who were displaced are at a sister property of Bent Tree Apartments.

Fire investigators are on the scene working to determine the cause of the fire.