Four Firefighters Dead in Texas Hotel Fire

24-year-old Anne Sullivan was among four firefighters who died in a hotel fire in Houston, Texas, in a tragic blaze that is already being called the worst in Houston Fire Department’s 118-year history.

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Fourteen firefighters were also hospitalized, with one reportedly having his leg amputated after the roof collapsed in the inferno.

Twenty four-year-old probationary firefighter, Sullivan, had only graduated from the Houston Fire Department Academy in April, and was killed alongside Captain Matthew Renaud, Robert Bebee, and Robert Garner.

The fire broke out on Friday with over 150 firefighters responding to control the blaze — staff were able to safely evacuate the hotel, but fire crews still had reason to believe there could be more people inside who needed rescuing.

Fire crews were sent in to look for guests and patrons of the South West Inn & Restaurant who could still be trapped, but were then trapped themselves by the roof collapsing in on them.

The fire moved quickly, with high winds causing it to spread rapidly throughout the building.

Fire captain Ruy Lozano defended the decision to send in fire crews saying that “it was an occupied structure, during business hours. There was every indication to think there was a life to be saved.”

In a press conference, fire chief Terry Garrison added:

Unfortunately, the building had much more fire in it than we had originally thought. The structure collapsed and our members, while trying to save lives, were trapped.

And if you think about it, firefighters do their work in groups. We work in groups of four on the fire ground — we protect and watch out for each other — so when we have something as devastating and sudden as a collapse, that’s where we have the potential to have many firefighters at one time.

HFD has never lost four firefighters in a single incident before, with the previous worst incident being in 1929 when three firefighters died after their engine was hit by a train.

The investigation into what caused the fire is ongoing, with the fire department’s Arson Division appealing for any witnesses to come forward. While the investigation continues, questions will inevitably fall on why the fire crews were sent in when it later transpired that the public had been safely evacuated.

If fire crews had known there were no lives left to save, then officers in charge would have been able to take a less aggressive approach to tackling the blaze.

In April, the US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology said that a five or six man crew was “significantly” more effective than a three or four man crew in tackling fires in a high-rise building. The Houston blaze was not a high-rise, but the study showed that a six-man crew was able to face a fire 60 percent faster than a three-man crew.

Whether a larger crew would have helped in this incident, or simply led to even more fatalities, remains to be seen.

FBU response
In 2007, four Warwickshire firefighters died in a similar incident when a roof collapsed in a fire at a vegetable warehouse. Investigations led to questions about why the fire officers had been sent into the warehouse, despite all the workers having been accounted for.

That investigation led to the prosecution of station manager Timothy Woodward, and watch managers Paul Simmons and Adrian Ashley, on charges of manslaughter, but all three were eventually acquitted, with chief fire officer Graeme Smith saying it was “clear these cases should never have been brought to court.”

The Fire Brigades Union has extended their sympathies with the Houston Fire Department, saying:

Please pass on our condolences, our best wishes and our solidarity to all concerned and to the members and officials of local 341. At such a time firefighters in the UK and across the world will share the sadness of our brothers and sisters in Houston and throughout the IAFF [International Association of Fire Fighters].