Fire Breaks Out In Attic Of South Austin Home [UPDATES]

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX -- A blaze was sparked in the attic of a South Austin home Thursday morning, resulting in what fire officials have described as a “heavy fire.”

A woman clad only in a towel who lives at the home fled the burning structure, the Austin American Statesman reports. The woman escaped uninjured after being alerted by a neighbor that her smoke alarm was going off.

Firefighters were called to the scene just before 8 a.m. for what was described as a sound akin to an explosion. When they arrived, fire crews saw flames shooting out from the attic and gargage, the Statesman reported.

The South Austin home is located at the 1500 block of Sahara Avenue, near Crocket High School.

Austin Fire Department officials told the Austin American-Statesman the woman’s pet Chihuahua didn’t fare as well as its owner. The animal was under veterinarian care in “critical condition” after suffering from smoke inhalation, and later died.

The damage to the home has been placed at $200,000, KVUE-TV reported.

Fire officials have yet to determine what may have caused the blaze: “There’s a host of things in garages that will explode,” one firefighter told the newspaper. “It could’ve been anything from a paint can to tires in a car.”