Two Houston FF's Injured

Two firefighters injured in two-alarm Houston fire

Houston Chronicle (November 4, 2008)

Nov. 4--Two firefighters were injured, one seriously, while battling a two-alarm fire Monday evening at a northeast Houston home.

One firefighter was in good condition with serious burns on his hand, while the other was in serious condition with major burns and lung damage after battling a blaze in the 3900 block of Linder shortly after 7 p.m.The two were inside the house when heat, flames and smoke pushed back onto them, said Houston Fire Department District Chief Tommy Dowdy. They were taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital-The Texas Medical Center for treatment, he said. Their names were being withheld Monday.Fire department officials said it had been nearly a year since a firefighter suffered such a serious injury while fighting a fire.

After hearing the news, Mayor Bill White went to the hospital to check on the firefighters and learn more about the blaze. At the hospital, dozens of firefighters, many of them off-duty, gathered in ambulance bays outside the emergency room, awaiting word of their two injured colleagues. More than 100 firefighters had visited the hospital since the pair was admitted. Inside, the chief in charge of the house fire waited with the two families.

"Like everyone else, he was pretty shaken," said Assistant Fire Chief Jack Williams, who spoke on the behalf of the chief at the hospital. Investigators are still trying to determine exactly how the firefighters were injured. Dowdy said it could have occurred after part of the roof collapsed or because of a flashover, which happens when the fire causes smoke and gas to ignite. A preliminary investigation shows the fire started in the house, possibly from a power outlet, Dowdy said. Authorities said three residents living in the home escaped before firefighters arrived and were uninjured.

Chronicle reporter Bradley Olson contributed to this report.