ATCEMS: 2 people die in south Austin house fire

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two people died Wednesday afternoon after a fire at a single-story home in south Austin, according to Capt. Christa Stedman with Austin-Travis County EMS.

Paramedics said both were pronounced dead after being taken to local hospitals for critical, life-threatening injuries. A third person pulled from the home is also in the hospital for minor injuries, and paramedics treated and released a fourth person on the scene.

Firefighters first got a call at about 3 p.m. regarding heavy flames coming from the back of a home in the 1000 block of South Center Street, which is north of U.S. 290 near South First Street. The first crews arrived about two minutes later and found heavy fire, high heat and low visibility, a fire department spokesman said Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters said they ran into difficulty searching for people inside the burning home and putting out the fire because of "hoarding conditions." However, they managed to knock down the fire at about 3:30 p.m. More than 45 firefighters ended up responding to the scene due to the conditions. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries, and a spokesman said one was because of the heat.

An investigation is now happening to determine the cause of the fire. Firefighters did not share much information Wednesday afternoon about that when they briefed reporters.

A fire department spokesman said it appears the home did not have any working smoke detectors, so he reiterated the importance of making sure those work.

ATCEMS said to avoid the area.