Fire destroys transitional housing in Oak Cliff
05:59 PM CST on Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Two transitional housing units in Oak Cliff were destroyed in a fire early Tuesday, displacing seven already down-on-their-luck residents.
The fire at The Straight Gate, a nonprofit prison outreach and transition program in the 900 block of East Ann Arbor Drive, was caused by an electrical short, Dallas Fire-Rescue officials said. The damage was estimated at more than $50,000.
"Tell him he can’t catch no fish with those melted poles,” said the housing project’s manager, Alfred Tilley, as one resident tried to salvage a fistful of fishing poles from the wreckage Tuesday afternoon.
Icicles hung from the structures’ charred remnants, and frozen fire-fighting foam nearby looked like snow.
Residents said they noticed the fire as it began in a utility room just before midnight Monday and were able to escape without injury.
Mr. Tilley said the American Red Cross was helping those displaced.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/121708dnmetocfire.6ce6537f.html
