DALLAS — A home that had stood for nearly a century burned near Old City Park in Dallas early Saturday morning.
A woman's body was found inside the smoldering wreckage of the one-story wood frame house.
When firefighters arrived in the 1900 block of Park Avenue around 12:30 a.m., the 92-year-old building was fully engulfed in flames. The roof collapsed before the victim was found in one of the front rooms.
Tracey Polk, the daughter of the homeowner, told News 8 the family had already moved out of the 1,200 square foot home that was built in 1920, and the property was vacant.
"Every day I would come check on the house and see if it was open to the public... anybody could come in and sleep," she said. "I wanted to make sure that no one was in the house, and I could definitely tell that every night someone was going and staying in the house."
The building had no electrical service, broken windows and burglar bars, but neighbor Gloria Medina said that didn't stop people from entering.
"Every time I'd see people hanging out around there, I'd tell them, 'You know what? You need to leave, or else I'm going to call the police,'" Medina said.
Michael Przekwas, the neighborhood association president, said he is not surprised this happened. He said neighbors have long been concerned about the vacant home in the shadow of downtown Dallas.
Neighbors told News 8 they do maintain hope for a better future for this area.
The identity of the victim and the cause of the fire remained under investigation Saturday night.
E-mail wcorona@wfaa.com
