More than 1,900 municipal firefighters and 502 guest instructors were at the complex this week for a variety of training courses. Wednesday night, they opened the complex to the public, and several fire school students came out as well.

Kenneth Dollery, who’s been a firefighter for 26 years, made the two-hour drive from Alvin with about a dozen children who are members of the town’s junior fire department.

“We teach them about all aspects of firefighting and let them do everything but actually fight a live fire,” said Dollery, who attended fire school himself for 12 years. “We thought this would be a great experience for them, so we drove up for the day.”

Visitors to the complex were shown several demonstrations, including a rescue operation from a high location and several fire-extinguishing drills.

Chris Britton and his 4-year-old daughter, Shelby, sought shelter under a large, slightly singed structure that’s used to simulate building fires. Most of the audience was crowded near a rope line about 50 yards away, but the rain combined with Shelby’s height seemed to make Britton’s shoulders the best seat in the house.

“We’ve always heard great things about how large the field is and the training they do for firefighters across the state,” he said, explaining the reason he made the two-hour drive from Austin for the demonstrations. “It’s great to get to talk to some of the firefighters out here, too. These guys are the first responders to accidents all across the state.”

Suzie Vestal also came from about two hours out of town and brought her two grandsons to visit her son, Billy, who is attending this week’s fire school.

“We’re here just for today, and tomorrow’s his 30th birthday, so we’re celebrating that, too,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to see what he does and I feel a lot better now, knowing how safe he’ll be with this kind of training.”

One of her two grandsons, Corey, who’s 5, already said he wants to be a firefighter like his uncle, she said.

“They’re both loving it,” she said. “I guess we’ll be back next year.”

The fire reportedly started in the upper areas of the house and spread to attic. The three children home alone at the time were able to get out before firefighters arrived. The cause is currently under investigation.

“I think he may have lost his garage, but I don’t think he should have lost his house because of the response time,” neighbor Raymond Duran said. Duran lives up the street and is one of several neighbors who are concerned about what happened.

“Once the trucks arrived on the scene it was chaos,” neighbor Christa Floyd said. “There was not any water getting put on the fire in any timely manner.”

Firefighters said it took them eight minutes to arrive once they received the 911 call and they immediately got to work battling the blaze.

“The first engine that arrived on scene pulled a large diameter hoseline and put a large amount of water on the fire very quickly and that was the first line they pulled off the truck and that was done as soon as they arrived,” Captain Calvin Poole of the Manchaca Fire Department said.

Firefighters acknowledge there is low water pressure in the nearby fire hydrants. However, they were able to keep up with the water supply by shuttling-in water from several blocks away.

Floyd said she did not want to criticize the firefighters, but worries they do not have the best material needed to fight fires.

“We’re all scared to death that our house could be next,” Floyd said.

Travis County Commissioner Karen Huber represents residents in the Onion Creek Meadows neighborhood. She said nearby houses recently had two other firefighting efforts hampered by low water pressure.

County leaders in Texas, however, do not have the authority to regulate water pressure in unincorporated areas.

“The community, the people, the residents need us to be able to have that kind of authority,” Huber said.

State lawmakers would need to intervene before counties could be granted the authority. Homebuyers are urged to ask about water pressure in the fire hydrants if they are considering buying a house in an unincorporated part of a Texas county.

The driver did manage to get out of the vehicle safely, but was taken to the hospital with minor burns on his arms and legs.

All eastbound traffic on Highway 36 is being rerouted to FM 93, while westbound traffic is being sent to Barnhart and Highway 95.
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Story and video from KWTX, Waco
Traffic was diverted early Wednesday following a fiery collision along Texas 36 in Bell County that had traffic at a standstill. Units from Temple Police, Temple Fire and Rescue and the Bell County Sheriff’s Office responded around 4 a.m. to the report of an 18-wheeler crash near the intersection of Texas 36 and Southeast H.K. Dodgen Loop.

Temple Fire and Rescue spokesman Thomas Pechal told News 10 the 18-Wheeler made contact with a concrete retaining wall and traveled some distance then ignited. The trailer was carrying hardware type materials such as nuts and bolts.

The fire destroyed the tractor-trailer rig but the driver suffered only minor burns and injuries; he was treated at Scott and White Medical Center in Temple.

Texas Department of Transportation and a HAZMAT response team were also called to the scene following the fire.

Motorists are advised to allow extra time of find an alternate route for their morning commute.

Investigators believe the cause was electrical.

Wilkerson said a man, who lived in the home at 601 Turley Drive, put bread inside of a microwave and the bread began to smoke. The man tossed the bread in the wastebasket inside the carport, Wilkerson said.

A neighbor saw flames coming out of the carport and everyone was evacuated from the home safely, Wilkerson said.

The home was a total loss he said, as was their Avalanche SUV that was in the car port. Fire officials at the scene said an estimate would be available on Tuesday.

Firefighters were told the one resident of that unit was not at home at the time of the fire. They believe she was at the home of her son, nearby. The cause is currently undetermined.

The second fire happened in Belton south of U.S. Highway 190, off of Loop 121.
Belton firefighters stopped their “fill-the-boot” fundraiser to respond to a mobile home fully engulfed.

Belton Fire Captain Keith Randolph said that there was no hydrant at that location, so they had to devise a water-shuttling system. The mobile home seemed to be abandoned, but did threaten nearby homes.

“The main concern was to protect exposure. We have a mobile home park. The mobile home’s right up to the fence, oh about 40 yards from the structure,” Randolph said.

The mobile home park consists of about 30 units.

One bedroom of the two-bedroom structure sustained heavy fire, smoke and water damage, with minor damage to the other bedroom and the living room. The attic suffered moderate damage.

Kerwin said two of the five residents of the single-family house were home at the time but escaped with no injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The cause of the fire had not been determined Friday afternoon. It is not currently being investigated as an arson, Mahlstedt said. No injuries were reported.

Firefighters believe the fire began in the garage of the house. It spread through the attic of the home before entering other rooms.

Baker said firefighters had to force entry into the restaurant, and quickly extinguished the fire, Baker said. No injuries were reported, Baker said.

There were no immediate estimates on damage or the cause of the small fire, Baker said. There are still crews on scene, and they are awaiting an investigator to determine cause, Baker said.