Port Arthur firefighters never know what to expect when the alarm goes off. Fire crews this morning responded to a fully engulfed house fire not knowing if someone was inside or if the house was empty. Fortunately, the house was vacant.
A dispatcher got the call around 6 a.m. The caller reported a house fire in the 4100 block of Ashland Drive. This is at the corner of Ashland and Lombardy Drives.
Firefighters quickly put out the flames and no injuries were reported.
A firefighter on the scene told 12News the house has been vacant for years and it was the scene of a deadly home invasion in 1998. Murderer Eloy Chester was executed in 2013 for killing Willie Ryman III at the address.
As of 7 a.m. the cause of the fire remains under investigation.