Fires

Who Burned the Lasagna?

Fire at Austin City Limits

After the Storm Comes the Fire

Flames of Discontent

Saying they are cops, arson investigators sue to overturn police pay raises

Fundraiser for the Koonce Family

Saying they are cops, arson investigators sue to overturn police pay raises

Lone Star Saloon In Richmond To Be Demolished, Reborn

The historic Lone Star Saloon in Richmond is about to be demolished.Heavily damaged by a fire in November, the remains of the 120-year-old building will be taken down by the end of the month, owner Bill Lundquist tells Fort Bend Now.The good news: He's planning to build a replacement. That's not rea ... More >>

Poindexter's Barbecue

A Houston manufacturing magnate sets West Texas on fire -- and now he's taking the heat

Remains Of Burned-Out Church May Become A Park

Now here's a good idea, and we mean that sincerely -- transforming the battered hulk of the burned-out, historic Bethel Baptist Church in Midtown into a park.KHOU reports that City Council has voted to buy the land what is left of the church, which suffered a massive fire in 2005. The hope is that a ... More >>

Letters to the Editor

Now here's a good idea, and we mean that sincerely -- transforming the battered hulk of the burned-out, historic Bethel Baptist Church in Midtown into a park.KHOU reports that City Council has voted to buy the land what is left of the church, which suffered a massive fire in 2005. The hope is that a ... More >>

Johnny Winter

I'm a Bluesman (Virgin)

Road Warrior

Roadster Grill

Amplified

Local Music News

Blowing Smoke

Local Music News

Who's Setting The Heights On Fire?

​Houston's historic Heights neighborhood is under siege. In just two months, 12 suspicious fires at local residences have taken place, all within a couple of blocks of each other.The latest incident occurred in the dark hours of the morning on October 2. Around 2 a.m., firefighters responded a fi ... More >>

I'll Take People Who Don't Grasp The Concept For $500, Alex: East Texas Alleged Sex Felon Now Facing Arson Charge

​Sometimes in life you are fresh out of options before you even know it. That's what 19-year-old East Texan Randy Keith Hester found out recently when his cunning plan to help pay his attorney went dreadfully awry.Last fall, Hester was accused of having a consensual sexual relationship with a 14-y ... More >>

Bye-Bye, Mai's

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​...and thanks for all the 2 a.m. pho. The popular Vietnamese restaurant, which had been a staple of Midtown dining since 1978, has been mostly destroyed by a fire that started in the rear of the second floor of the building at 3403 Milam early this morning. Although f ... More >>

Lombrices (Worms)

Die in vain

High on Fire

Die in vain

Prison Guard's Wife Cries Crocodile Tears In Ashes Of Home

​The story shocked Beaumont and prison guards all over America: a federal correctional officer and his wife Monique, both Marine veterans fresh back from a tour in Iraq, were apparently burned out of the house they just bought less than a month before the April 10 blaze. The low-down scumbag ... More >>

Smokey Fire Just East Of Downtown

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​Office-dwellers downtown might have thought the George R. Brown Convention Center was on fire this afternoon, as smoke from that area burgeoned up. Instead it was an abandoned commercial building on the other side of 59, at Polk and St. Emmanuel, that was the site of ... More >>

Smallish YMCA Fire Brings Big HFD Response

Photos by Chris VogelA lot of trucks responded for a smallish fire​As more than 30 fire trucks and 100 firefighters clogged up Downtown's Louisiana Street in front of the YMCA building this afternoon in response to a three-alarm fire, residents who had evacuated couldn't help but acknowledge the i ... More >>

Twitter: Five More Types Of Tweets We Can Live Without, Thanks

Don't get cute with the hashtags, plz?​Last month Craig Hlavaty, as part of his feature on the Twitterverse, examined the five most annoying things people can do on Twitter.It turns out there's five more. At least.Hlavaty ably limned the TMI posts, the what-I'm-eating tweets, the horror of Foursqu ... More >>

Albert Briede: Montrose Man Celebrates July 4th In His Own Peculiar Way

Talk about bad hangovers....​A Montrose-area man is charged with arson after his 4th of July celebration ended with a homemade fireworks display consisting of his girlfriend's entire wardrobe.According to a complaint filed by HPD's arson squad, Albert Briede, 30, spent the holiday clubbing with hi ... More >>

HFD Announces It Doesn't Know Much Yet About Election-Machines Fire

HFD still trying to come up with answers​Wondering what's going on with the investigation into the warehouse fire on August 27 that destroyed more than $30 million of Harris County's voting equipment?Well, lucky for you the Houston Fire Department threw a little media soiree Thursday afternoon to ... More >>

Massive Montrose Fire Burns Agora Cafe and Antiques Store

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​Click here to see a slideshow of last night's blaze and this morning's aftermath. Last night in the midst of Halloween drinking festivities and the Montrose Costume Crawl, Agora Cafe and Antique Warehaus burned down. The two businesses, at the corner of Westheimer and ... More >>

Bad Religion

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​Click here to see a slideshow of last night's blaze and this morning's aftermath. Last night in the midst of Halloween drinking festivities and the Montrose Costume Crawl, Agora Cafe and Antique Warehaus burned down. The two businesses, at the corner of Westheimer and ... More >>

Top Eight Notorious Concert Disasters

Daniel R. Davidson via WikipediaThe Station fire in West Warwick, R.I., 40 seconds in​Recently, indie-rock juggernauts Arcade Fire were prevented from playing a gig in Portugal by NATO, which is having a summit on the same date. Arcade Fire offered to play a day ahead of time, but NATO decided ... More >>

Inprint: Salman Rushdie

Daniel R. Davidson via WikipediaThe Station fire in West Warwick, R.I., 40 seconds in​Recently, indie-rock juggernauts Arcade Fire were prevented from playing a gig in Portugal by NATO, which is having a summit on the same date. Arcade Fire offered to play a day ahead of time, but NATO decided ... More >>

Notable Heights House Burns To The Ground

Illustration by Jean Steinhardt​A three-alarm fire destroyed a prominent house on Heights Boulevard early this morning, taking away one of the signature sights on the unique street. HFD doesn't know what caused the blaze. Heights historian Martin Hajovsky has tracked down the history of the ... More >>

Colby Bartholemy: Fire in Our Pot Greenhouse? We'll Take Care of It, Firefighters

Fire? We can take care of it, officer​Colby Bartholemy and his pals know how stressed firefighters can get, especially volunteer firefighters in a small town like San Leon, where any second they could be called to battle a raging inferno. So when Bartholemy and friend had a bit of an electric ... More >>

DPS Says It's ID'd "Persons of Interest" in Governor's Mansion Arson

DPSThe car in question​The seemingly unbreakable case of the 2008 arson at the Governor's Mansion may be a step closer to being solved. Or maybe not. DPS has just announced they have "a person of interest" in the case and are offering a $50,000 reward for him. Also, they're blaming GOP-hatin ... More >>

Jessica Tata: DA Pat Lykos Says Don't Blame Me for Her Getting Away

Jessica Tata is in Nigeria and is wanted​District Attorney Pat Lykos had an afternoon press conference today to rebut claims that her office did not act quickly enough in the case of Jessica Tata, who owned a daycare where four kids died in a fire, allowing Tata to escape to Nigeria. "Suggest ... More >>

Jessica Tata: Feeling the Hate on Facebook

Jessica Tata is not loved on Facebook​No local Houston figure in recent memory has become so hated so quickly as Jessica Tata, the fugitive owner of the day care where four children died in a fire last week. Believed to be in Nigeria, Tata, who lied about her juvenile record on her regist ... More >>

Jessica Tata Brought Into Custody

Jessica Tata, 22, is in custody.​The long strange trip of the woman wanted in connection with the deaths of four children in a daycare fire in February is over as Jessica Tata was escorted to Harris County jail early Tuesday morning. Tata was the owner of Jackie's Child Care, located in a res ... More >>

Jessica Tata: Now She's Facing Murder Charges

HCSOJessica Tata faces a longer sentence​The stakes have been raised against Jessica Tata, the owner of the daycare center where four children died in a fire. Previously charged with manslaughter, now Tata faces murder charges after court filings yesterday by the Harris County District Attorn ... More >>

Idiots Try to Burn Mosque

Fire didn't have time to spread.​The Texas chapter of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) is asking the FBI to investigate an attempted arson at a southwest side mosque as a hate crime. Media reports say at least three men in masks broke a window at the Madrasah Islamiah mosque near ... More >>

Montrose's Creepiest Adult Bookstore Burns Down, Man Killed

Google mapsA Montrose landmark of sorts, gone.​For years, the Talk of the Town adult bookstore on Richmond just west of Montrose has been a creepy oddity -- from the outside, it looked like a shabby, about-to-fall-down barn, its fading red paint, lack of windows and seeming claustrophobic cond ... More >>

Houston Catches a Break with Bush Park Wildfire

Photos by Barry Sigman​As noted below, the grassfire that broke out yesterday afternoon at George Bush Park has been all but contained. No evacuations were necessary. By 7 p.m. HFD had "50 pieces of fire equipment, more than 175 personnel, 4 dozers" working the fire, and they were ready with ... More >>

James Edwin Durham: One-Man Lufkin Crime Wave Finally Brought Down -- Featuring Musical Mugshot Slideshow

Check the musical slideshow of Durham's mugshots after the jump. More beauties like this after the jump.​It's been a rough year for James Edwin Durham. Since last November, the 39-year-old Lufkin man has allegedly burned his mother's house down while cooking meth, gotten shot in the ass, be ... More >>

Dog's Best Friend Is an HFD Firefighter

Photos by Barry Sigman​A two-alarm apartment-complex fire at Dashwood and Kirkwood was put out this morning, but not without a little doggie rescue work.

David Keith Allen: Recently Remarried Former Pastor Accused of Killing Wife in House Fire

KCENTVDavid and Paula Allen in happier times.​The very best preachers are consummate showmen, able to sell you on the sincerity of their message with the utmost aplomb. 49-year-old David Keith Allen, former pastor at the New Life Church of Restoration just east of Gatesville, sounds like a he ... More >>

Late Night Pie Burns Down Overnight

Photos by Andrew ShrewsburyFirefighters battled the flames at Late Night Pie for nearly three hours.​A fire that started 45 minutes after Late Night Pie closed last night at 3 a.m. burned the pizza joint nearly to the ground. ABC-13 reported that the restaurant had suffered major damage as a r ... More >>