A fire that tore through an apartment complex in northwest Harris County, killing one person and injuring several others, was set on purpose, investigators say, and a man who lived there is now behind bars. Authorities allege the blaze was no accident but a deliberate act that turned a family dispute into a deadly emergency in the middle of the night.
The fire broke out around 1:30 on Monday morning at the Cypresswood apartments in northwest Harris County. Neighbors who spoke to reporters at the scene said they suspected from the start that the fire had been intentional, a suspicion that investigators would later confirm as they worked to piece together how the flames had erupted so quickly.
According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, a resident of the complex, Matthew Atwater, allegedly started the fire on purpose after getting into a confrontation with his own family. Officials say Atwater lived at the apartment with his brother and their mother, and that he set the unit ablaze following an argument with them, unleashing a fire that would prove impossible to contain in time.
The flames spread fast through the building. Investigators say the fire killed Atwater's brother and left his mother seriously injured, a devastating toll within a single family. In all, one person was killed and 13 people were injured in the blaze, with residents taken to hospitals as the fire forced people from their homes in the darkness. The Red Cross has stepped in to help families left without a place to live.
Among the most gravely injured was a 3-year-old boy, who suffered severe burns to 95 percent of his body and was left fighting for his life in the intensive care unit. Relatives described him as a happy and curious child, and said he was battling hard to pull through injuries of a severity that few could survive.
The boy was saved by his father, who was also hospitalized after the rescue. According to family, the father scooped the child up and ran through a wall of fire to escape the home, a desperate dash driven by how quickly the flames had climbed. His actions were credited with getting the toddler out of the burning apartment alive.
Matthew Atwater was booked into the Harris County jail and, according to the Harris County Fire Marshal, has now been charged with murder and arson, as well as manslaughter, in connection with the fire. He was expected to appear in court, where the formal charges would move the case toward prosecution as detectives continue to examine how the blaze was set and the injured, including the young boy, remain in the hospital fighting to recover.