Pile of Clothes Eyed as Possible Origin of Deadly Shelter Blaze

A firefighter looks out from a fire-damaged portion of a homeless shelter, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, in...

A firefighter looks out from a fire-damaged portion of a homeless shelter, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, in Paris, Texas. The fire tore through the small-town homeless shelter early Monday, partially collapsing the building and killing five men, fire officials said.

(Matt Slocum/AP Photo)

A table piled with donated clothes is being eyed as the potential origin of a fire that killed five people at a Texas homeless shelter, forcing some residents to flee into the cold streets barefoot and coatless.

Fire officials said it was the deadliest fire in 30 years in recent memory in Paris, a town of about 26,000 people about 100 miles northeast of Dallas.

"It went fast," said Roger Riemer, 49, who has lived at the shelter since September. "There was quite a few people trying to get it out, but it didn't work. It was just getting too hot. Smoke was billowing out of there so bad. There was nothing we could do."

Riemer and other shelter residents, huddling outside a makeshift shelter across the street, said they saw flames and felt intense heat coming off the table full of donated clothes just before 3 a.m. Monday. Paris Fire Marshal Dale Maberry said the table was being investigated as a possible "area of origin."

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The shelter, a converted bakery, was run by the nonprofit Seed Sowers Christians in Action. The fire didn't spread to most of the aging brick warehouse-like building, but a chunk of roof collapsed and left a gaping hole. Underneath, some Christmas garland lay atop the rubble.

Paris Fire Chief Ronnie Grooms said he wasn't immediately aware if the building, which did not have a sprinkler system, had been cited for code violations. With so much donated clothes and furniture in the building, Grooms said "a lot of that would be considered a fire hazard."

Grooms said arson was not suspected.

The names of the victims, some of whom were left almost unidentifiable to investigators, were not immediately released. Their bodies were sent to Dallas late Monday for autopsies and positive identification, according to Lamar County Justice of the Peace Ernie Sparks.