Fire rips through north central home

The Red Cross is helping a north central El Paso couple find a place to stay overnight. Early Thursday evening, a fire ripped through their home on the 3500 block of Kemp, just east of Alabama street.

An ABC-7 viewer sent in photos showing flames and smoke coming out of the single story home.

While clear Thursday night, there was a lot of activity at the house that afternoon as 36 firefighters showed up in 15 vehicles and trucks to contain the fire before it destroyed the home.

It took firefighters 45 minutes to get the fire under control because they ran into major problems finding its source. Fire crews on the scene said the couple who lives in the house got out safely because they were alerted by a smoke alarm. They did have minor cuts and scrapes, and were treated for minor smoke inhalation, but refused to be taken to the hospital

Firefighters said the damage to the home is could roughly be $80,000 to $100,000.

Witnesses like Analy Holguin saw smoke and flames billowing from the windows as they drove by.

“It was really dark and stuff. We saw flames coming out of the windows and through the back of the house,” Holguin said. “On the side, you saw the flames coming over the roof.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but fire officials said it may have started in one of the back bedrooms.