MERCEDES – Mercedes are asking for help to find out who started a fire overnight at the Mercedes Court Apartments at the intersection of Ohio and Sixth Street.
Police are specifically trying to identify a man spotted near the complex right before the fire started. The man is seen in surveillance pictures taken from the nearby Stars drive-in restaurant.
Diego Ramirez sat outside the Mercedes Court Apartments this morning with his girlfriend wrapped in American Red Cross blankets.
He and his neighbors had been evacuated by the Mercedes fire department about six hours earlier to begin fighting the inferno that once was the complex’s parking garage.
A total of 11 cars caught fire around 2:30 a.m.
No one was injured and the building is stable with what looks like minor outside damage, and has no electricity.
Mercedes Fire Department said the fire had been contained around 5 a.m. and put out the rest of the hot spots by 7 a.m.
Mercedes Fire Marshall Rolando Maldonado said the fire department has been working with South Texas Arson Response Team to investigate the cause.
This morning, Ramirez’s neighbors all stood in shock looking at their vehicles lined up burned in a row.
The displaced residents have been outside their apartment since the fire started and have not been allowed back into their home.
