Fort Worth apartment fire: Resident rushed into burning building to save dog

Fort Worth man saves dog from apartment complex fire

On Friday, FOX 4 spoke with one resident about what he went through to rescue the most important thing in his home: Ollie, a 6-year-old Maltipoo dog, who was trapped in the burning building.

FORT WORTH, Texas - Hundreds of residents have been displaced after a six-alarm fire broke out at a Fort Worth apartment complex on Tuesday.

On Friday, FOX 4 spoke with one resident about what he went through to rescue the most important thing in his home: Ollie, a 6-year-old Maltipoo dog, who was trapped in the burning building.

Fort Worth 6-Alarm Fire

The backstory:

During the fire at the Cooper Apartment building on West Rosedale in Fort Worth, more than 150 firefighters were sent to the scene to battle the blaze.

Due to the construction of the building, it was more difficult than normal to extinguish the fire. Authorities tell us the roof materials, intended to keep water out of the building, did their job so well that it took hours to fully put out the flames.

A total of 834 residents have been displaced following the devastating fire. It’s still unknown how many units were damaged, and the residents are still waiting to find out when they’ll be allowed back into their homes. 

The official cause of the fire remains unknown.

Fort Worth Resident Rescues Dog

Cooper Apartment resident Eli Acevelo’s dog, Ollie, was trapped in the burning building when residents were told to evacuate. On Tuesday, Ollie was home alone when fire broke out.

What they're saying:

"I came home early from work. I got here around 2 p.m., but the fire was already, I guess up there, already started. I waited half an hour to see if someone would let me in, or someone could grab him. Nobody did. I waited another half hour; still no news."

Finally, Avacelo decided to risk sneaking into a side entrance himself to rescue the animal.

"After an hour from when I got here, I just ran and I grabbed him. I ran through the smoke, I had to."

Eli admits it was a risk, taking matters into his own hands.

"It was a little scary, I'm not gonna lie. They told us the fire was on the roof, but when I ran in, there was a lot of smoke," Acevelo said. "I tried looking under the couch, because that’s where he usually hangs out. He wasn’t there, but he was kind of shaking by the bed. I just grabbed him, grabbed the leash."

Eli has spent nights with a couple of different friends and is still figuring out where to live. He says he’s making the best of things, and helps just to know that Ollie is safe.

"He’s with my mom. My mom is going to take care of him for now until I get a place and settle down."

What's next:

A donation giveaway on Friday comes three days after a determined electrical fire started at the Cooper complex, in spaces just beneath roofing material, which made it extremely difficult to reach and fully extinguish. 

Some residents are making lists of crucial items in their apartments, like passports and medicine that recovery workers went to retrieve for them.

Sarah Turner, with the Fort Worth Apartments Association, explained the situation.

"The residents aren’t allowed in right now. That's not the owners or managers; it’s the city to protect everybody. So there’s only a handful of people that are allowed into the construction site because they also have to know how many people are in and out to make sure that everyone’s accounted for."