Subject: Houston Fire Department

• Who Burned the Lasagna?

  December 11, 2006

• Tunnel Mole Heads Above Ground

  June 12, 2007

• Tensions Are Rising

  September 15, 2008

• In The Re-Match, Second Baptist Again Kicks Lakewood's Ass

  September 17, 2008

• On The Hot Seat

  Lester Tyra's short reign as chief of the Houston Fire Department has been filled with controversy. Can he quench the flames fast enough to save his job?

  August 17, 2000

• Letters 09-07-2000

  Burned by City Hall, Leon and Joe, Muzzle This Mirth

  September 7, 2000

• Press Briefs

  January 6, 1994

• Burning Down the House

  June 23, 1994

• No Need To Check On My Pot-Growing Empire, Officer

  The Houston Fire Department was putting out a small electrical blaze last night at what looked to be an abandoned mechanic's shop.They couldn't be sure the fire hadn't spread inside, so they asked the guy who was on the property if he could open the place up.He didn't really want to."They told him 'Hey, we can't leave until we check it out,'"Harris County Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. John Legg tells Hair Balls. "He let them in and then he took off."The firefighters thought that was a bit o

  January 6, 2009

• Critic's Choice

  July 20, 1995

• Press Picks

  July 27, 1995

• Autopsy

  January 25, 1996

• Farewell to the House that Bud Built

  April 4, 1996

• Letters

  July 18, 1996

• It Was Like This

  December 5, 1996

• Thelma's Says It's Rebuilding

  The latest "news" on the smoldered Thelma's Bar-B-Que on 1020 Live Oak is... nothing all that new.Alicia White, with the Houston Fire Department, told Hair Balls that since the cause of the fire is still under investigation, information beyond the basics isn't going to be released any time soon (the basics being that the call came in to the HFD around 2:05 a.m. on January 31). White said that records show that Thelma's suffered $10,000 in estimated damages.Though "re-building" does not necessar

  February 5, 2009

• A Neighborhood Divided

  July 24, 1997

• Letters

  May 27, 1999

• Spectacular Firetruck Crash Makes Huge Hassle In Montrose

  Photo by Justine Schmider Firefighters and at least one civilian were injured in a nasty crash at about 11 o'clock this morning at Westheimer and Dunlavy in the heart of Montrose.The two fire trucks collided while responding to an emergency call, flipping the ladder truck onto a white Infinity, according to one person who spoke to Hair Balls.Apparently, the original call was a false alarm. ABC 13 is reporting injuries that aren't life-threatening to five firefighters and one civilian.We hea

  March 30, 2009

• Fire Department Deals With A Tough Two Weeks

  Photo by Paul KnightIt's been a rough two weeks for the Houston Fire Department.Two firefighters died Easter morning inside a burning house, trying to rescue a married couple that wasn't there, and on March 30, two fire trucks collided in Montrose while responding to fire that didn't exist, injuring nine firefighters and a 29-year-old pedestrian who died on Saturday."We'll always look to get better," Rick Flanagan, a spokesman for the department, told Hair Balls. "We respond to provide service a

  April 15, 2009

• Gunning for a Runoff

  Can Bell avoid being the odd man out?

  October 25, 2001

• Gulf Freeway Should Be Avoided Tomorrow, Unless You're Honoring Houston Firefighters

  Fair warning: If you're planning on using the Gulf Freeway tomorrow morning, be prepared to wait.Houston Transtar has sent out an alert noting that the funeral services for the two fallen firemen will tie up traffic from 6 am until 1 pm.The details: A combined Memorial Service for fallen Houston Fire Department employees Captain James Harlow and Probationary Firefighter Damion Hobbs will begin with an 8 a.m. processional from Fire Station 93, at 911 FM 1959 (Dixie Farm Road), to Grace Community

  April 15, 2009

• RIP, KIKK

  A redneck institution drowns in a flood of syrupy smooth jazz

  November 14, 2002

• Thai Xuan Village

  The city is handing out grants to spruce up apartments near Hobby Airport. Unfortunately, a group of dilapidated Vietnamese condo units don't qualify

  March 29, 2007

• Cake Tease

  January 12, 2006

• The Terrorist

  Call the cops! Call the fire department! Tony Cantu and the Epernay subdivision are at it again.

  September 8, 2005

• A Gap in Coverage

  Critics of GoldStar ambulance service say it's late to emergencies, cares for profits over patients, and doctors its books. But without it, there's nothing.

  July 14, 2005

• Talky? You Bet!

  Sheila Jackson Lee's verbosity leads to a jackpot

  February 12, 2004

• Rodeo's Gonna Git You, Sucka

  When the Fat Show calls, you better answer

  December 19, 2002

• Smoke Damage

  Jim Pirtle's slipshod nicotine habit spells the end of an era for No tsu oH, but he hopes to rise from the ashes

  June 27, 2002

• Going off the Rails

  A proposed line into the Bayport Industrial District has residents from Clear Lake to the East End vowing to stop the "toxic train" in its tracks

  April 18, 2002

• Fire Away

  Plus: Labor Pains, Taking the Rains

  January 24, 2002

• Riding Short

  Houston firefighters say the city has been playing Russian roulette by carrying crews of three members instead of four on its trucks. Last October, Jay Paul Jahnke anted up with his life.

  January 10, 2002

• Ballot Hits and Bloopers

  Sour grapes, golden gloves and acidic comebacks on the campaign trail.

  November 8, 2001

• Burning Grief

  The mayor's new HFD staffing plan postpones the dreams of dead firefighter's kin.

  November 8, 2001

• The Insider

  Curse of El Mercado. Did a city planning commissioner try to cash in on the project?

  January 13, 2000

• Downing

  Texas Lottery. Let's buy our tickets and bet on the day that Robert Arthur Pearson finally kills himself in public while we all watch

  November 25, 1999

• Black Firefighters Protest Lack Of Action On A Noose In A Locker

  Photo by Paul KnightA senior captain in the Houston Fire Department kept a noose hanging in his locker, and according to the Houston Black Firefighters Association, the fire department, city council and mayor haven't taken the incident seriously. "They basically gave him a slap on the wrist," firefighter Michael McCook tells Hair Balls. "The mayor said that he was probably just practicing tying knots, but there are no tactical procedures performed with a hangman's noose."The whole thing started

  June 23, 2009

• Houston Fire Department Battles Another Racism Allegation, Assuming You Think Graffiti Saying "Die Nigger" Is Racist

  The Houston Police Department began a full-scale hate-crime investigation this morning after a pair of women firefighters discovered racist and sexist graffiti scribbled all over the locker doors in the women's dressing quarters at Station 54 at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Houston Fire Department Executive Assistant Chief Rick Flanagan described the comments on the lockers as "so distasteful, so painful, so despicable." Chief Phil Boriskie said that this behavior is "not indicative of t

  July 7, 2009

• The Economist Loves Texas And Houston, Unless Those Nasty Democratic Hispanics Take Over

  Texas Republicans are buzzing over the latest issue of The Economist, the conservative British magazine that tends to get a lot of respect.It contains a special report that can be summed up in four words: "Texas good, California bad."Among the findings you might be surprised to learn, especially if you've been reading about the Houston Fire Department or HISD school board recently: There's no racism in Houston. With vibrant Asian communities alongside its balanced Hispanic, white and black mix,

  July 14, 2009

• A Cool, Calm Discussion Of Possible Racism In The Fire Department

   You know what the Houston Fire Department racism mess needed? Some more stirring of the pot.Luckily, we have city councilwoman Jolanda Jones, who is a Sheila Jackson Lee in training when it comes to publicity, and Jeff Caynon, head of one of the local firefighters' unions, who also knows how to get the spotlight.Caynon is black, and a fierce supporter of firefighters who have been accused of various racial and sexist incidents. He tends to be in camera range whenever  (see update at e

  July 24, 2009

• Exoneration Of A Sort In One HFD Incident

  ​The beleaguered Houston Fire Department got some support today from a vice-president of the local chapter of the NAACP, who said in a press conference that he accepted that a noose-like rope found in a station locker was not intended to be a racial symbol.Reverend D.Z. Cofield said he had conducted a "thorough investigation" into the rope owned by Captain Keith Smith and Smith "has been vilified."For his part, Smith offered a seemingly sincere apology, saying the rope was used for practicing

  July 27, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: There Actually Is An Ax-Murderer On The Loose

  ​Did Houston police officer R.G. Gardiner shoot John Barnes on Saturday evening unnecessarily?The police department says no. The official version goes that Gardiner, who was working an off-duty security job at the Woodland Hills Village Apartments at 2139 Lake Hills Drive, saw Barnes and a woman arguing outside their home. When Gardiner approached Barnes and tried to arrest him, Barnes ignored him and the two men got into a struggle. Barnes then disarmed Gardiner of his Taser and pointed t

  August 4, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Son Kills Mom, Heads To Mexico

  ​Laura Palacios of Houston died with her son at her side. Though it was hardly a comfort to the 51-year-old woman: It was her son who allegedly killed her. That's the story told by Harris County Sheriff's homicide detectives who have charged Jose Palacios, 24, with murder. But he is not behind bars. Instead, he's believed to have fled south across the border into Mexico, eluding the relatively short arm of Texas law enforcement. On August 3, detectives began investigating the death of a woma

  August 10, 2009

• Another City, Another Dispute Over Sexism And Racism

  ​After a summer of what seemed like a million racist and sexist offerings from the Houston Fire Department, it started to feel like our city had to have the worst department around. But that changed earlier this month when Channel 13 reported some "explosive new allegations" about racism and sexism, along with a cover-up, in the Texas City Fire Department. Kelly Alcocer, a former fire marshal and captain in the Texas City department, told the news station that she was the target of attacks, in

  August 14, 2009

• Be Happy or Die

  September 10, 2009

• Midtown Spec's Has A Minor Electrical Fire, Houston Comes To A Standstill

  Photo by Katharine Shilcutt Hey, it's Spec's! And it's not on fire!​Driving into work this morning, Hair Balls was passed by at least a dozen fire trucks and Houston Fire Department SUVs as they sped through Midtown. Naturally interested in rubbernecking if at all possible, we checked Twitter to see what the commotion was about and instantly saw an update from Coffee Groundz: "Breaking news Spec's Midtown is on fire."Within minutes, our entire Twitter stream of roughly 3,500 followers

  September 11, 2009

• Sayonara Savoy: Derelict Downtowner To Be Emergency Demo'd Soon

  ​The Savoy (1616 Main St.), one of the half dozen or so derelict high- and midrises in southwestern downtown, is to be imploded tomorrow next Friday in an emergency demolition, according to HPD public affairs officer Victor Senties. The building was found to be structurally unsound and must come down at once, he said, and added that more details are forthcoming from officials from Metro, HPD and the Houston Fire Department at a press conference to be held at 3 p.m. today near the building. But

  September 18, 2009

• Houston Female Firefighters Get In On The Calendar Act

  ​For years, the studs of the Houston Fire Department have been selling charity calendars to gay men all over the city. Possibly some women buy them, too.Now -- to top off a year when female firefighters have alleged harassment and abuse by colleagues and lack of support from supervisors -- the women are getting in on the act.Benefiting the fight against breast cancer, the Houston Women Fire Fighters Calendar is filled with pictures of sweaty women holding fire axes and hoses and other fire stu

  November 16, 2009

• More Ugly Trouble For That Doctor From The Wholesome TV Ads

  ​Houston's wackiest, silliest married couple is at it again: Last Sunday night, Rachel Brown, wife of cocaine-enthusiast and medical-license-losing former surgeon Michael Brown (star of local television ads featuring his kids) called 911 because, per the offense report, "her husband is trying to kill her and her family."  Those ku-raaazy Browns! We only hope their children (both under 5 years old) were there to witness the whole brouhaha, which Houston Police Department Spokesman John Can

  November 20, 2009