History of Houston Fire Department - 2000

2000

Station No. 1 located at Bagby and Preston and Station No. 8 located at Polk and Crawford from 1970 was closed in 2001 for construction of the Houston Aquarium and Toyota Center, respectively. Stations 1 and 8 were combined and relocated to the corner of Milam and St. Joseph and Station 8 was reopened in June 2001 in a temporary leased building.

Hurricane Katrina put a load on the Houston Fire Department. Firefighters were pressed into service in early September 2005, to triage the refugees that poured into Houston to escape flooded New Orleans. The firefighters worked 24/7 at three refugee sites, the Astrodome, Astro Arena and the Brown Convention Center. Some 40,000 refugees from Hurricane Katrina settled in before the later bus loads of hurricane refugees were directed to other cities in Texas.

• September 11: A bronze statue titled "In the Line of Fire" by The Official Texas State Sculptor Edd Hayes was dedicated on the site of the future location for the Houston Fire Museum at the corner of Hadley and Main.

On March 28, 2007, a fire went through a mid-rise, located at 9343 East Loop near North Loop, which was complicated by the windy conditions. The fire, later determined to be arson, claimed the lives of 3 civilians and the structural integrity of the 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) building was compromised. A report on how the response was later published criticizing HFD's handling of the fire including lapses in communication, failure of immediately dispatching additional units when fire was upgraded, and firefighters were "freelancing", adding to the chaos. The report also praised the firefighters for their improvisation in fighting the fire and rescuing their fellow firefighters trapped in the building. In spite of the report being critical of the response, no disciplinary action will be taken and will instead be used as a training tool.

On April 21, 2008, the crews from the temporary station moved into the new "Super Station" No. 8 located at 1919 Louisiana at its completion.

On January 7, 2009, Officer Development Center and Training Simulator at the HFD Training Academy at 8030 Braniff was opened during a ceremony. At a cost of 2.6 million dollars, the 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) ODC, designed by firefighters, will provide realistic fire situations that an officer may encounter while on a call in the field.

• March 9: A ladder truck and a pumper truck, from stations 16 and 7 respectively, collided at the corner of Dunlavy and Westheimer in the Neartown area, which resulted in the death of one civilian, injuries of another civilian and 9 firefighters who were initially taken to the hospital. All were released with only minor injuries. After a preliminary investigation, it was determined that the Pumper Truck might have had the green light, and therefore the right of way.

• April 12: Two firefighters were killed in a house fire in Houston's South East Side. Captain James Harlow, 50, and rookie firefighter Damion Hobbs, 30, from station No. 26, were later identified as the victims.

• May 21: Local retailer Jim McIngvale's warehouse for his store, Gallery Furniture, caught fire and went to four alarms and 150 firefighters took part. The owner thanked HFD for helping save his 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) showroom and a variety of collectibles inside and vowed to rebuild. photo gallery

On February 23, 2010, the investigation of the April 12 fire of the previous year concluded that a variety of mistakes were made that resulted in the deaths of a Fire Captain and a rookie. Among the mistakes included were being separated in the structure and radio procedures not followed. No disciplinary action will be taken to anyone present at the fire. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health later released a report that confirmed what was stated in a previous investigation.

• August 25, Terry A. Garrison was selected as the new Fire Chief, a 30-year veteran from Phoenix, Arizona and in 2007 moved to the Oceanside, California, fire department from May 2007 to December 2009. He was officially confirmed on September 15.

• August 30, an alarm was called at about 8 pm for a fire on the 27th floor of the JPMorgan Chase Building in Downtown Houston. The Houston Fire Department responded with 3 alarms and 270 men. The fire was officially extinguished at 11:20 pm. Due to a broken pipe, HFD had to pipe water directly into the building. An HFD spokesperson reported all six of the injured firefighters are out of the hospital and appear to be doing well.

On January 28, 2011, plans were announced to refurbish former fire station No. 27 in Denver Harbor into apartments for firefighters coming to Houston for medical treatment and it will be renamed the Hamilton Brown House. Former Houston City Councilman Peter Brown put up an initial $53,000 for the property, and was looking for an additional $400,000 to complete the project. It was Brown's father who designed the station back in 1940. The Hamilton Brown House will be the first of its kind in the country.

• Due to the ongoing Texas drought, on September 13, 2011, Houston Firefighters were dispatched to the park responding to a wildfire. The fire has quickly grown and the firefighters were sent to the north levee near I-10 to wait for the fire to come to them and stop it there. By the end of the first day, over 50 vehicles and 175 firefighters were dispatched to the scene. At one point the fire was one mile wide, consuming 1,500-arce of the park, with the cause under investigation.

• On March 14, Senior Fire Captain Thomas "Bill" Dillion, 49, was a 22-year veteran of the HFD, who worked out of Station No. 69. He died while responding to a small apartment fire.