Houston Fire Department News

Two crewmembers were killed and another badly injured after a fire broke out on a containership in Port Houston.Port Houston Fire Department responded during the early morning hours on Monday to a report of a fire onboard the Panamanian-registered containership Stride docked at the Barbours Cut Container Terminal, the port said in a statement.Two ship crew members lost their lives, and another was injured and transported to a hospital via a medical transport helicopter, the port said.

More than 40 U.S. Coast Guard, State of Texas, maritime industry and local emergency responders attended the American Salvage Association’s (ASA) Marine Salvage and Emergency Response training course last month in the Houston-Galveston area presented by the ASA Training Committee. Designed to train students on how to coordinate proactive marine casualty response operations, this two-day program exposed students to a wide variety of course modules led by ASA members and industry experts in salvage law, naval architecture, commercial diving, environmental policy, and emergency response operations. “Since 2003, the ASA has presented a number of Marine Salvage courses every year to Federal…

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port has reopened the Houston Ship Channel from Cotton Patch Bayou to Sims Bayou after a precautionary safety zone had been put in place due to an explosion at Pasadena Refining System, Inc., Saturday morning. At 10:30 a.m., a Sector Houston-Galveston watchstander observed smoke rising in the sky over the tree-line outside an office window and coordinated with Vessel Traffic Service Houston-Galveston watchstander's, who observed the smoke coming from the facility and found other responders were already enroute. The Captain of the Port closed the channel at 10:40 a.m., until Coast Guard hazmat teams were able to investigate the scene for any impact from possible chemical release in the air or any impact on the waterways.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Tuesday for a man who went missing after his shrimp boat overturned Monday near Cedar Bayou on the Houston Ship Channel. The Coast Guard, Chambers County Sheriff’s office, Port of Houston Fire Department, and Harris County Dive Team searched for nearly 17 hours and covered more than 38 square miles with no sign of the missing man. “We conducted 13 sorties and searched more than 17 hours for the missing man, saturating the area with both aircraft and boats," said Zack Edwards, the command duty officer at Sector Houston-Galveston. "Unfortunately, we did not locate him and have suspended the search.

The Port of Houston Authority’s firefighting team recently received the third and last in series of high-performance emergency response vessels, a fleet of new vessels designed to keep one of the country’s busiest and strategically important waterways safe: The Houston Ship Channel. The Port of Houston Fire Department operates three fire stations stationed along the 52-mile-long Channel, and emergency professionals respond to marine and land fires and other emergencies along the upper ship channel.

A two-week voyage through four Great Lakes and the Mississippi River will bring to the Port of Houston Authority’s firefighting team the third of three new, high-performance emergency response vessels. “The Port of Houston is one of the nation’s busiest ports, and protecting this national asset is essential to the economic well-being of Houston, Texas and the nation,” said Port Authority Executive Director Roger Guenther. The Port of Houston Fire Department operates three fire stations, strategically stationed along the 52-mile-long Houston Ship Channel.

A two-week voyage through four Great Lakes and the Mississippi River will bring to the Port of Houston Authority (ETA May 28, 2014) the third of its three new high-performance emergency response vessels (ERVs). "The Port of Houston is one of the nation's busiest ports, and protecting this national asset is essential to the economic well-being of Houston, Texas and the nation," said Port Authority Executive Director Roger Guenther. The Port of Houston Fire Department operates three fire stations, strategically stationed along the 52-mile-long Houston Ship Channel. Certified emergency professionals respond to marine and land fires and other emergencies along the upper ship channel.

A two-week voyage through four Great Lakes and the Mississippi River will bring to the Port of Houston Authority the first of three high-performance fireboats to replace the current fleet. "As the nation's busiest port in terms of foreign tonnage and home to one of the world's largest petrochemical complexes, our firefighting team is second to none in protecting this national asset and the many who work here," said Port Authority Executive Director Len Waterworth. The five-member crew includes three from the Port of Houston Authority's Fire Department.

The oil spill responders continue clean up efforts today after the 458-ft tank vessel Chemical Supplier allided with a barge and spilled approximately 10,500 gallons of oil in the Houston Ship Channel early on Sept. 25. Responders, as of 5:00 p.m., recovered approximately 4,280 gallons of oil. The source of the leak was secured at approximately 1:25 a.m. Sept. 26. The fuel tank contained an estimated 22,500 gallons of fuel oil. The Houston Ship Channel remains closed to all vessel traffic north of the I-610 bridge. Watchstanders from Sector Houston-Galveston received a call at approximately 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, reporting that the Chemical Supplier allided with Buffalo Barge #251 in the vicinity of Brady's Island near the I-610 bridge.