A couple of structure fires in Mesquite killed two people on Thursday.
The Mesquite Fire Department (MFD) responded to the first call during the early morning hours. First responders were alerted to a structure fire at a home in the 300 block of Kimberly Drive — near N Bryan Belt Line Road and East Grubb Drive — around 2 a.m.
According to NBC 5 DFW, 35 personnel from MFD got to the scene. The residence sustained major damage as a result of the fire. While no firefighters were hurt, one person was killed in the blaze.
Leah Langdon, 59, reportedly died trying to find her cats.
“She loved everybody. There wasn’t a person or an animal that she didn’t love, and if she could do anything in her power for any of them, she would. She would just do it,” said Alan Bernia, per NBC 5.
Having known Langdon for roughly 30 years, Bernia explained that she had moved from California to Texas about six years ago, following him and his husband.
“She actually put her life on hold to help me through my open-heart surgery,” he said.
Hours later, a second fire was reported not long after 6 a.m. about five miles away in the 2800 block of Ingram Circle near Pioneer and South Beltline Roads, Fox 4 KDFW reported.
Once again, no firefighters were injured, but an individual died in the fire.
A total of 18 firefighters responded to put out the second blaze. They successfully helped one resident escape.
Officials have not identified the deceased from the second fire. Both incidents, however, are being investigated. Residents in the vicinity of the first fire have been asked by friends of Langdon to look out for her three cats, according to NBC 5.
Thursday’s fires were not the only ones to have consumed homes recently. An apartment fire in Fort Worth last month left over a dozen people displaced, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
