Fire destroys two homes

One house was obliterated and another reduced to a frame in a Wednesday evening fire in the northwestern edge of West Odessa, volunteer fire chief Jimmy Ellis said as he took a break from chopping through the burning remains of the second home.

Both houses were vacant and no one was hurt in the blaze, he said.

The fire was reported at about 7:25 p.m. Wednesday at 11435 W. Helm St., which is near the corner with North Flamingo Avenue north of 57th Street. The winds blew the fire toward Rogelio Franco's mobile home, he said, prompting him to pull out a water hose and soak his house before firefighters arrived to stop the fire short of his home.

"It ate the first house, hit the second house and was going to hit this trailer here," he said.

One of the homes that caught on fire had live power at the time, Ellis said. An Oncor truck came to the fire to shut the electricity off.

Ellis said the cause of the fire was not yet known and they were still battling small flames and hotspots after 8 p.m.

The smoke from the fire was visible from Interstate 20 near FM 1936.