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Early Morning Fire Damages House Under Construction

Posted on: Thursday, 23 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Bill Miller, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Mar. 23--KELLER -- An early-morning fire Wednesday in southeast Keller severely damaged a house under construction and may have caused a brief gas leak, according to reports.

Firefighters were called about 6 a.m. to the fire at a two-story, 4,800-square-foot house in the 900 block of Tealwood Drive, said Chuck Blankenship, division fire chief.

Blankenship said Wednesday morning that it would probably take a few hours before investigators determine what caused the fire, which inflicted heavy damage.

"I don't know that the house is salvageable at this point," he said, estimating the damage at $500,000.

The neighborhood is south of Sky Creek Ranch Golf Course.

Blankenship said there was a gas leak in the area while firefighters battled the blaze, and a crew from Atmos Energy shut down the gas line.

Ray Granado, spokesman for Atmos Energy, said the utility's crew members reported that part of the burning house collapsed on a gas meter, which caused the leak.

"The house was collapsing already, so I doubt this added anything more to it," Granado said. "It was already pretty well burned."

Blankenship said, "We did have some debris fall there, so we can't rule it out."

He added, however, that Fire Department officials were looking at the gas leak as part of the overall investigation and had not drawn any conclusions.

Blankenship also said that people were in nearby houses were not threatened by the burning house because it was surrounded by vacant lots.

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Bill Miller, (817) 390-7684 wmiller@star-telegram.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

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Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

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