CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) -
A fire consumed a 30-unit apartment building and left dozens of people homeless.
Fire fighters worked for hours to control a fire that sparked just before 11:30 p.m. Monday night at the Coastal Haven Senior Citizens Apartments located on Middlecoff near Everhart.
The flames started in building B, which is has been completely destroyed, but amazingly everyone made it out alive.
Residents at the assisted living facility scrambled to get out as flames jumped from one apartment to the next.
"I was there. They told us to get out so we got out," said Maria Garcia, who escaped the fire.
"They came banging on the doors telling her to get out," Garcia's son-in-law Jose Olivarez said. "She got her purse and sandals. Everything else is in there."
The fire burned for hours, with flames so intense the heat could be felt from hundreds of yards away. One resident said he is thankful he made it out okay, but is now left wondering where he will go.
"I grabbed a bag, some pictures, pictures that can't be replaced," said David Brice, a resident of the apartments, "and called fired department. I'm just lucky to be alive, that I'm not hurt. All my stuff can be replaced."
The blaze sparked on the second-floor balcony at building B before it quickly spread, destroying all 30 apartments.
The center is an assisted living facility for retired people and even some residents with handicaps.
"When we come to a facility like this, it makes it a challenge for us. It makes it intense," said Captain James Brown of the Corpus Christi Fire Department. "We have to stay ahead of it and rescue, and firefighting second. There is a building behind it so crews made the decision to evacuate those people also."
At the nearby old HEB, hundreds of cars pulled into the parking lot. The fire catching the attention of worried bystanders, with everyone wondering how anyone could have made it out alive from the raging inferno.
One person had to be rescued from their apartment, but officials tell us no one was transported to the hospital. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Fire investigators said Tuesday night that damage is estimated at $3 million.
