FIRE TAKES OUT WESTHEIMER RESALE SHOP 
Early this morning, a 1-alarm fire at Vintage Oasis in Montrose rendered much of the inventory destroyed and the 2-story cottage at 1512 Westheimer blackened. Culturemap reports that it’s not clear yet what caused the fire, and arson investigators have been called in. Sadly, writes Whitney Radley, the casualties include more than the boxes of used LPs and racks of other people’s trousers: “At least two tenants lived in an upstairs apartment, but no injuries were reported. However, two store cats, Puddin and Wolfie, and three cats belonging to the upstairs tenant reportedly perished in the fire.” [Culturemap] Photo: Flickr user leafy tenement
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Sad to hear; Those cats and that lady where/are some of the nicest creatures on the curve.
Poor kitties, hope they didn’t suffer too much.
Is it just me of does it seem like a lot of the older homes turned into business on Westheimer end up going up in flames ?
http://houston.culturemap.com/news/city_life/07-26-11-08-40-montrose-art-gallery-engulfed-in-early-morning-fire-at-corner-of-dunlavy-and-westheimer/
Interesting… The sister store on Yokum closed a few weeks ago. Smells fishy to me
@Charles: The upstairs tenants lost everything and barely escaped with their lives. No one would do that on purpose for an insurance check.
@Ian – I wish I lived in your world, where people always put the safety and well-being of others ahead of their own finances. While I’m not by any means saying Charles is right, it can in no way be dismissed as implausible. Let’s see what the arson investigators say.
@John – Not surprising, really. As the electrical systems age and more equipment loads are put on them, plus the interior wood frame and insulation dry out, sparks will happen. Besides, the older houses just don’t have the fireproofing technology and codes that modern ones do, so in general they’re more likely to burn.
“@John – Not surprising, really. As the electrical systems age and more equipment loads are put on them, plus the interior wood frame and insulation dry out, sparks will happen. Besides, the older houses just don’t have the fireproofing technology and codes that modern ones do, so in general they’re more likely to burn.”
For some reason, the wooden houses converted to commercial use that you see in, say, Austin don’t seem to pop into flame like this, and the air is drier out there. Ditto Wimberley, Fredericksburg, etc.