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Houston,TX Apartment Complex Fire 9/2/2022
- Thread starter mikeindabronx
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More interesting for the D Shift was an incident that happened about three hours after this job- the partial structural collapse at the Downtown Aquarium and Restaurant that injured a woman. Even the shift Deputy Chief had to go downtown to gawk.
25 years ago there were two fire stations in the Central Business District downtown. Station 8 had been in various houses at Polk and Crawford Streets for over a century. Built in 1968, Station 1 was a four story house at Bagby and Preston Streets that housed HFD administrative offices in addition to numerous suppression units.
Then, mysteriously, 8's had to be torn down to build the Toyota Center- home of the NBA Houston Rockets. Next, HFD had to clear out of 1's. The City sold it to become a tourist attraction- the Downtown Aquarium and Restaurant. They both opened in 2003.
For years afterwards, a popular topic of discussion at HFD kitchen tables was "Who paid what to whom for that deal?"
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And it still is Engine 1 and 8 are combined in the same house.
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I feel like Paul Harvey
Both the Houston Rockets and the Downtown Aquarium are now owned by local billionaire Tilman Fertita. Up until the 1950's, his grandfather in the Maceo family ran illegal casinos, carpet joints, and the Balinese Room (Thank you ZZ Top) in Galveston.
For decades the Borden's Ice Cream plant occupied the block bounded by Louisiana, Calhoun, Milam, and Pierce Streets in southwest downtown. On Sunday morning December 11th, 1983 an ammonia leak developed in the refrigeration system at Borden's. The first alarm assignment was at the scene. The plan was for 7's crew to escort the building engineer inside to identify and mitigate the problem. As they were waiting outside to get the engineer a mask, the joint exploded. The building was wrecked. The windows in the two story retail establishment across Milam Street were blown out. It was a close call for everyone. Luckily, there was only bumps, bruises, and ruffled feathers, although a member standing up the street was showered with popsicle sticks.
Fast forward almost two decades, 8's and 1's are now orphans in need of a home. So the City rents the long vacant retail place on Milam Street where they live for two years with the rigs in the rear parking lot. And the new station? Yep, the old Borden's block across the street where they reside today.
And that's....the rest of the story.
Both the Houston Rockets and the Downtown Aquarium are now owned by local billionaire Tilman Fertita. Up until the 1950's, his grandfather in the Maceo family ran illegal casinos, carpet joints, and the Balinese Room (Thank you ZZ Top) in Galveston.
For decades the Borden's Ice Cream plant occupied the block bounded by Louisiana, Calhoun, Milam, and Pierce Streets in southwest downtown. On Sunday morning December 11th, 1983 an ammonia leak developed in the refrigeration system at Borden's. The first alarm assignment was at the scene. The plan was for 7's crew to escort the building engineer inside to identify and mitigate the problem. As they were waiting outside to get the engineer a mask, the joint exploded. The building was wrecked. The windows in the two story retail establishment across Milam Street were blown out. It was a close call for everyone. Luckily, there was only bumps, bruises, and ruffled feathers, although a member standing up the street was showered with popsicle sticks.
Fast forward almost two decades, 8's and 1's are now orphans in need of a home. So the City rents the long vacant retail place on Milam Street where they live for two years with the rigs in the rear parking lot. And the new station? Yep, the old Borden's block across the street where they reside today.
And that's....the rest of the story.
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- Joined
- Aug 16, 2008
- Messages
- 1,001
The city built new quarters at 1919 Louisiana for Engine 1 and 8 and Ambulance 8.
I just looked this building up in Google Maps and the building is huge. Question, what is it used for besides these three companies? And what would be the possible staffing total for these three rigs?
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I was wonder because it looks like 8 bay doors on the street side and 8 bay doors on the parking lot side. Is it a drive thru for no backing up or are rigs front and back?
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Houston hasn't built a non-drive through fire house in at least 30 years. The only practice HFD E/O's get backing up is when they drive their pick-ups trucks to work in the morning.
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