UNIVERSAL CITY, Texas – One week after a Universal City fire damaged nearly a dozen apartment units and left dozens more without basic utilities, city and apartment officials provided few new details on its aftermath.
City fire officials said during a Monday morning news conference that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The fire sprung up just after 4 p.m. on Dec. 7 at the Falcon Ridge Apartments in the 300 block of East Aviation Boulevard in Universal City.
While the fire destroyed 11 apartment units, city officials initially said in a previous news release that a total of 64 units were impacted.
However, apartment property manager Jody Marquez said Monday that the fire displaced residents living in 61 units.
Marquez also announced that tenants in those units have had their rents and security deposits refunded. They have also been released from their leases, according to Marquez.
Universal City Fire Chief Todd Perna said it is still not safe for tenants to return to their units.
“Folks want to know: ‘When is it safe that I can get in on the apartments that were not completely destroyed by fire?’” Perna said. “But we have to have engineers get in and make sure that area is safe, and we’re waiting on that right now.”
Perna also said the timeline for electricity, water and gas utilities to be turned back on remains unclear.
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
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