BREAKING FIRE STATION NEWS The upper floor of the fire station at the corner of Richmond and Dunlavy in Montrose buckled today and the building is close to collapsing, a source with second-hand knowledge of the situation tells Swamplot. Problems with the foundation of the 1979 structure were reportedly complicated by the removal of a building column some time in the past. An engine, ladder, 2 ambulances, and an EMS supervisor are being relocated to nearby facilities and the station will be “closed indefinitely,” reports the source. Station 16 covers the greater Montrose area, roughly from Kirby to Spur 527 and from Bissonnet to West Dallas. [Swamplot inbox]
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Didn’t the HFD personnel who posted the “unsafe for habitation” notices at Wilshire Village come from Station 16? Oh, the irony….
As a friend of mine likes to say, “Karma, honey, karma…”
Protecting people from negligent slumlords nets negative karma now?
Only when a building in roughly the same condition for years and spot-maintained by the residents rather well suddenly becomes a dire threat within a matter of days because someone needs to close a deal.
Shit, I love those guys. Although I did complain when they didn’t let Takara So burn to the ground. Just took their job to seriously I guess.
Protecting people from negligent slumlords nets negative karma now?
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They never protected me from negligent slumlords. Or anyone else. Just the poor tenants of Wilshire Village who were obviously watching the floors collapse. Oh, wait, it’s the firemen who were watching the floors collapse. Their own.
this is nothing but bad news all around… HFD goes out risking their lives everyday and any orders to post unsafe for habitation signs would come from much higher up than the people affected by this… people who leave comments on blogs are lame.
HFD goes out risking their lives everyday and any orders to post unsafe for habitation signs would come from much higher up than the people affected by this… people who leave comments on blogs are lame.
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Lame is not realizing that those who leave comments on blogs sometimes have a point and in this case that while condemning a perfectly habitable apartment complex as a favor, obviously, to City Hall the fire marshal was ignoring his own stations.
But who cares if the floors collapse at a fire station, you know?
I’m assuming everyone is okay and there were no injuries? I wonder if the station will be moved permanently; it’s one of those things I most love about this neighborhood.
“Lame is not realizing that those who leave comments on blogs sometimes have a point and in this case that while condemning a perfectly habitable apartment complex as a favor, obviously, to City Hall the fire marshal was ignoring his own stations.”
What is lame is that you have no clue of what you speak or how the fire department works yet you continue to talk.
What is lame is that you have no clue of what you speak or how the fire department works yet you continue to talk.
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There are apartment complexes all over this city in far worse shape, and far more dangerous to tenants, than Wilshire
Village was. I don’t see the fire marshal running around condemning them, do you?
The reality is the supposed standards of safety don’t even apply to the fire stations. The thing, as they say, speaks for itself.
Isn’t this the station from where Warren Ducote, the killer of Leigh Boone, was based?
I think you’re missing the point a little Matt. What FIREhat is suggesting is that it is a bit obnoxious to suggest that the personnel from the firehouse itself somehow earned any sort of bad luck for merely carrying out orders. As you yourself pointed out the decision to condemn Wilshire Village came from way higher up than a Montrose firehouse filled with people who are just trying to do their jobs.
I’m merely pointing out the irony of the fire marshal posting “CONDEMNED” signs on buildings and ignoring his own building just down the street. That is what is obnoxious.
If we don’t inspect our fire stations, by the way, how are we going to inspect all of our apartment complexes?
The point is we’re not. That was the point of changing the inspection system. So the slum landlords don’t have to deal with the tenants calling the city or have to mess with all the warnings and citations. They can just slip someone $100 and get an occupancy permit showing no violations. Which is what some probably do now.
Including the fire chief?
Matt, you obviously don’t know anything about bribes if you think that $100 would be enough to sway an inspection such as this and you don’t seem to have the best understanding of how HFD works, either. So until you have some plausible evidence of bribery you should probably quit accusing HFD inspectors of accepting it.
Hmm. I should reschedule the fire I was planning, then?
No Dani, now would be a pefect time for a fire.
Seriously, I liked all those guys, they did a great job and I now fear for our neighborhood.
HFD… another lame bunch of Houston “heros”.
Especially Station 16, home base of the crew that indeed killed Leigh Boone while racing vehicles from another fire station to the same false alarm…
These are also the knuckleheads that race the big red fire truck up the street to Krogers on W. Gray for groceries. And then gawk at women in the aisles, like they never seen female before. Dorks.
>>>From markd:
HFD… another lame bunch of Houston “herosâ€.
Especially Station 16, home base of the crew that indeed killed Leigh Boone while racing vehicles from another fire station to the same false alarm…
These are also the knuckleheads that race the big red fire truck up the street to Krogers on W. Gray for groceries. And then gawk at women in the aisles, like they never seen female before. Dorks.
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God help you if you ever have a fire in your home. You obviously have no concept whatsoever about what a firefighter does on a daily basis.
Did station 16 cause the false alarm? Did they personally answer the 911 call? No, they were dispatched by a central monitoring station, just like every other station in the city/state/country. They often don’t know the details of the call until they’re already enroute.
Yes, they take their firetruck to Kroger for groceries. Do you know why? I’m guessing not. They take their truck because all firefighters work 24 hour shifts, multiple times per week, and are responsible for cooking their own meals while on duty. If a call comes in while they’re shopping, they drop their food and head to YOUR house to save YOUR a$$.
If you want to continue complaining about these “heroes”, get off your butt that’s most likely sitting in an air conditioned office somewhere, and run into a burning building. Then come back and complain. Otherwise, back off.
So where are they being relocated?
From Jesse:
Did station 16 cause the false alarm? Did they personally answer the 911 call? No, they were dispatched by a central monitoring station, just like every other station in the city/state/country. They often don’t know the details of the call until they’re already enroute.
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The fact that it was a false alarm was just a tragic irony. However, it is simply true that firefighter Warren Ducote ran a red light at Dunlavy, slamming into a pumper truck that was going down Westheimer–which caused the accident that injured numerous people and killed Leigh Boone. The fire department investigated the accident and found no reason to cite Ducote. I have no way of knowing how thorough and unbiased their investigation was, but let’s face it–it was the HFD investigating the HFD, so impartiality is hardly to be expected. The police didn’t even ticket Ducote. But an article in Saturday’s Chronicle hints that the DA may decide to prosecute. There were rumors that the two trucks were racing each other.
Matt, you obviously don’t know anything about bribes if you think that $100 would be enough to sway an inspection such as this and you don’t seem to have the best understanding of how HFD works, either.
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And maybe you are slightly anal-retentive and cannot relate to sarcasm. Which is sort of tongue-in-cheek with a twist.
As for how HFD works, who cares. I know what Legal Momentum THINKS about HFD – that it’s a bunch of sexist bubbas out for a good time when they’re not fighting fires.
The point was, and is, how the city works. Or how the city doesn’t work. It at times doesn’t seem to work at all. Particularly for tenants. And apparently for firemen who find themselves climbing dangerous stairs as well.
>>>The fact that it was a false alarm was just a tragic irony.
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I totally agree. It was a horrendous accident, one that will hopefully never happen again.
Firetrucks have the right of way when responding to an incident (or any emergency vehicle, for that matter). What happens when 2 trucks, both with right of way, get to an intersection at the same time? Tragedy, obviously.
Personally, I think that HFD *had* to investigate Ducote simply as a matter of principle… they’d investigate any HFD driver involved in any accident. Add in that it was with a 2nd truck, from a different station, and with a fatality, and they’re treading new ground. I can’t imagine there’s much precident for this kind of situation anywhere in the country.
Rumors of racing, to me, seem like rumors. The amount of stress engine drivers endure is emense to begin with. Again, it would be dispatch’s call whether to activate 1 station or 2… though I don’t know personally, I can’t imagine there’s much direct engine-to-engine communication from different stations in those first 30-60 seconds before this took place.
Rumors of racing, to me, seem like rumors. The amount of stress engine drivers endure is emense to begin with.
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Just like the rumors of sexist graffiti?
Much of Houston’s infrastructure was severly ignored during Bill White’s administration and things are coming back to haunt the former mute City Controller who is now Mayor and has to deal with the aftermath.
From Matt Mystery:
There are apartment complexes all over this city in far worse shape, and far more dangerous to tenants, than Wilshire
Village was. I don’t see the fire marshal running around condemning them, do you?
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The Wilshire Village demolition had nothing to do with the fire department inspectors but rather the Mayor trying to increase the tax base from the property. With the original property owner in bankruptcy court, the City (and County) couldn’t get the tax money they wanted out of the land. It was basically one developer doing another developer a favor. Mayor you get the building condemned and I’ll get a project going. Councilmember Lovell did the dirty deed for the Mayor.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that there are people who are happy that the fire station is collapsing and wish those guys harm. I’m sure you can’t wait to get home and read your favorite part of the Turner Diaries.
I’ll relate one story about those guys at that station. I was at Ervan Chew park and my wife and I saw older lady who started asking for directions. It was soon apparent that she had Alzheimer’s and had wandered off. We walked her to that station and helped for an hour while we ran street names by her, etc. Her memory basically wiped clean every couple minutes. When HPD finally showed up and said they had to take her into custody, the firemen took responsibility for holding on to her while we kept trying to figure out where she was from. HPD had no patience for trying to figure out where she was from and wanted to drive her straight to adult protective services. We finally figured the street where she was staying with her son, and those guys fanned out and started knocking on doors. We found the distraught guy looking for his mother and it ended well. I have nothing but respect for those people and the way they handled things. They could have turned her over to HPD and been through with it but they took the time to help someone in the neightborhood. Those guys are good neighbors and they have my respect and my gratitude.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that there are people who are happy that the fire station is collapsing and wish those guys harm.
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I don’t think anyone is wishing them harm but rather just pointing out how the city doesn’t walk its talk with regard to health and safety violations by landlords. And the city, in a way, is its own landlord with regard to the fire stations.
As for the firemen, well, respect is earned. And some have not earned it. Some in fact have lost it. By their actions. Some of which, again, are being looked at by the DA.
Anyone who lives in the area or even drive through the area knows what a dangerous intersection Dunlavy at Westheimer is and the traffic going north on Dunlavy cannot see the traffic on Westheimer until it is too late. Not an intersection to go barreling through without being a little cautious and perhaps slowing down a bit and that includes fire engines.
Someone was killed by someone driving a fire truck that collided with another fire truck. Both assuming they heard and saw the other? The one on Dunlavy wouldn’t have seen it until it was too late.
This “can do no wrong” attitude towards our “civil servants” is one of the reasons why this country is the mess that it is.
>>Not an intersection to go barreling through without being a little cautious and perhaps slowing down a bit and that includes fire engines.
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You ever tried stopping a fire truck on a dime? You can be going 15mph (top running speed, I might add), and they’re still a bear to bring to a standstill. I’ll admit I don’t know what speed the report said they were going, but it wasn’t necessarily “fast” by most people’s standards.
Even though I’m fairly conservative I would feel completely stupid and ignorant had I made this comment:
“This ‘can do no wrong’ attitude towards our “civil servants†is one of the reasons why this country is the mess that it is.”
Matt, you also seem to be ‘in the know’ on the graffiti situation at Sta. 54.
Pray, do tell…
Even though I’m fairly conservative I would feel completely stupid and ignorant had I made this comment:
“This ‘can do no wrong’ attitude towards our “civil servants†is one of the reasons why this country is the mess that it is.â€
Matt, you also seem to be ‘in the know’ on the graffiti situation at Sta. 54.
Pray, do tell…
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I am stupid and ignorant. You are the rocket scientist. Obviously you can figure it out for yourself. If not, call Legal Momentum in New York. They can explain it to you. The grafiti and all. Lots of the all. Which went over Bill White’s head. And probably will go over yours as well. Despite your both being rocket scientists. Fairly conservative or fairly liberal, the thing about rocket scientists is they are also usually bubbas. And a little sexist.
“I am stupid and ignorant. You are the rocket scientist. Obviously you can figure it out for yourself. If not, call Legal Momentum in New York. They can explain it to you. The grafiti and all. Lots of the all. Which went over Bill White’s head. And probably will go over yours as well. Despite your both being rocket scientists. Fairly conservative or fairly liberal, the thing about rocket scientists is they are also usually bubbas. And a little sexist.”
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I had really expected a better response than this. What did legal momentum have to say about the FBI handwriting analysis? Or Jane Draycott’s husband, being employed by HPD and his involvement in the investigation? Or the fact that Paula Keyes has quietly disappeared from the case and returned to work without incident?
Let’s get this right:
Ducote was speeding at 18 mph and the other fire truck was going a relaxing 52 mph and some of you want Ducote hanged?