4 Firefighters Killed in Houston Fire Mourned

One Houston firefighter remains hospitalized in critical condition after a massive motel and restaurant fire killed four of his fellow firefighters.

The Houston Fire Department said 14 firefighters were taken to the hospital on May 31. One remained in critical condition and another was undergoing surgery. The rest were in stable condition and several have been released from the hospital.

The fire broke out just after noon at a restaurant connected to the Southwest Inn along a busy freeway and quickly spread to the section of the building housing the motel. About 150 firefighters responded and were able to get it under control within about two hours.

The fire was the deadliest in the 118-year history of the department.

Fire Capt. Ruy Lozano said at a news conference Saturday that firefighters were turning to each other and their families as they grieved their colleagues.

“Anytime one of your brothers or sisters are affected, it’s not just that, it’s also a reminder of the inherent danger of this profession. It reminds you. It reminds your family,” said Lozano, who also said that a memorial for the firefighters is tentatively set for Wednesday.

Fire officials said they took a high risk in aggressively fighting the fire because they believed people were inside the motel. When a portion of the building collapsed, the firefighters were trapped.

“It was an occupied structure, during business hours. There was every indication to think there was a life to be saved,” Lozano said.

Among the four killed were veterans of the department and a newcomer just a month out of the fire training academy.

One of the dead is 29-year-old Robert Garner. Jerry Veuleman, who raised Garner since he was 14 years old, told the Houston Chronicle that Garner was proud of his work and had set his sights on becoming a firefighter after leaving the military. He joined the department 2 1/2 years ago.

“‘Use your training. Don’t be a hero. God will look after you,'” Veuleman recalled telling him. “God chose it was time to take Robert and the other firefighters. We are sorry, but we are also blessed.”

The others who died were: 35-year-old Capt. Matthew Renaud, an 11-year veteran of the department; 41-year-old Robert Bebee, who joined almost 12 years ago; and 24-year-old rookie firefighter Anne Sullivan. She had graduated from the Houston Fire Department Academy in April.

Her father, Jack Sullivan, said that while he’d tried to sway his daughter into a less dangerous line of work – such as an emergency medical technician – he knew that her heart was set on being a firefighter.

“There was no stopping her,” Sullivan said.

The Houston Fire Department Arson Division is taking the lead in the investigation of the fire, with assistance from the State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Houston Police Department.