On Friday, December 15, 2023, at about 8:30 p.m., several reports of a fire on the Sapphire Bay peninsula were reported into the Rowlett, Texas Dispatch.
At first, a structure fire response was sent to the location. However, when arriving at The View Apartments, a second and eventually a third alarm were called in by incident command.
The 5-story Apartment complex was still being built, and no occupants resided there.
After initial tactics didn’t work to extinguish the fire, a defensive approach had to be taken with four aerial ladders put around the structure, flowing water.
Several fire departments, including Dallas, Dallas County, Garland, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson, Rockwall, Sachse, and Wylie worked the fire for about 32 hours.
Since then, flare-ups have been seen which leads to heavy smoke which is expected in incidents like this. Rowlett FD has been alternating crews to the incident in 2-4 hour timeframes in order to monitor the situation.
Because of the severity of the matter, the ATF has been called in to assist. Their National Response Team has highly trained personnel that specialize in fire origin and cause determination. In addition to that, they have state-of-the-art equipment.
No further details have been provided regarding the investigation that is continuing.
The public has still been urged to avoid the area at this time.
