Houston FD....The First Multiple Alarm of Autumn

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Yesterday in Houston it was 87 degrees at 2:00PM. At 4:00PM the first cold front of Fall came through with over a half inch of rain in twenty minutes. This morning it was a near-arctic 58 degrees with a 25 to 35mph northwest wind and a desert-like 47% humidity. Some furnaces may have gotten turned on.

Residents jump from windows in west Houston apartment fire that took 50 firefighters to contain

A 211-alarm fire broke out on Olympia Drive near Hayes Road Wednesday morning. More than 50 firefighters are on scene, multiple people rescued, and crews are fighting the fire defensively.

www.click2houston.com

Since 9:00AM, they have had two more building fires.

 

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Residents jumped from 2nd story to escape west Houston apartment fire, HFD says

HFD said two people were taken to hospitals after an apartment building caught fire in west Houston this morning.

www.khou.com

This about one mile northwest of the Westchase Hilton Hotel at 9999 Westheimer Road.

The Westchase Hilton is a twelve story hotel. It had smoke detectors, but was not sprinklered at the time. When an alarm sounded at the front desk, the clerk had three minutes to investigate before the alarm sounded on that floor as well as the floors above and below.

At about 2:00AM on March 6, 1982 the desk clerk received an alarm for the fourth floor. He believed a party was going on and shut off the signal. Several minutes later, another alarm sounded and the same process was repeated. Finally, the front desk got a call about smoke on the fourth floor. At 2:28AM Houston Fire Department started the first of four alarms to the scene. Then , as today, Engine and Ladder 69 would be first due. Twelve people died in a room and contents fire.

ABC13 VAULT: Remembering the deadly Westchase Hilton hotel fire of 1982

The fire, which started with a cigarette igniting a chair, killed members of two families.

abc13.com

I'm guessing that everyone that made this fire forty-three years ago is still upset about it.