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Texas firefighters face ammunition ‘going off,’ lack of water at house fire

Firefighters took defensive measures, attacking the two-alarm fire from the outside due to the threat from the ammunition in a gun safe

By Michelle Iracheta
Houston Chronicle

HUFFMAN, Texas — Firefighters battling a two-alarm blaze early Friday at a Huffman home faced a number of challenges, including bullets “going off” and a lack of water, officials said.

Capt. William Crawford with the Huffman Fire Department said the firefighters were called to the home at the 1100 block of Wood Branch at 2:44 a.m. and arrived to find it “fully involved from one end to the other.”

It took about one hour for firefighters to put out the fire, Crawford said. The firefighters took defensive measures, attacking the fire from the outside, he added.

“It wasn’t safe to put our firemen in there,” Crawford said.

A neighbor told firefighters the homeowner may still be trapped inside, so a second alarm was immediately requested, he said.

At one point, firefighters attempted to get into the home through the back but were unable to, due to ammunition inside a gun safe that was “going off,” Crawford said.

“They still can projectile and penetrate a human body,” he added.

Also, a lack of fire hydrants nearby meant the firefighters had to rely on fire stations from surrounding cities, Crawford said.

Firefighters from the Crosby, Atascocita, Sheldon and Houston fire departments worked together to supply enough water to put out the fire.

The homeowner was later found outside the home without injury. No firefighters were injured in the blaze.

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