Another possible HFD noose incident reported

Houston’s beleagured fire department suffered another blow today as a top department official confirmed that city investigators are probing a report that a firefighter possessed a rope tied in a noose-like knot at a northwest side firehouse.

Executive Assistant Chief Rick Flanagan said the incident occurred Wednesday — just one day after two female firefighters reported to work at a Bush Intercontinental Airport fire station to find their quarters defaced with racist, sexist graffiti.

Flanagan said Wednesday’s incident was reported by two white firefighters at Fire Station 78, an engine, ladder and medic company at 15100 Memorial.

Flanagan described the knot as a “lasso.” He declined to name the accused firefighter or to provide other details of the incident, which is being investigated by the city’s Office of the Inspector General.

At this point, Flanagan said, the firefighter remains on duty. Under civil service rules, the firefighter must be given 48 notice of the accusation, allowing him time to obtain a lawyer, before he can be questioned by investigators.

Wednesday’s incident marks the third time this year that the department has drawn scrutiny for racially charged incidents. Last month, City Council earmarked $60,000 for departmental sensitivity training after a noose-like knot was discovered in February in the locker of veteran fire Capt. Keith Smith.

Smith told city officials that the knot was a fisherman’s knot, a type used in rescues. But the episode drew strident criticism from black activists.

On Tuesday, Firefighters Paula Keyes and Jane Draycott discovered graffiti scrawled in their quarters at Fire Station 54, where they were the only women in a company of 50 men. That incident occurred days after Draycott, who had worked at the firehouse about two years, filed a complaint regarding vandalism in the women’s shower and restroom.
By Allan Turner, The Houston Chronicle