Reporter unearths never-before-seen photos of Southwest Inn fire

HOUSTON – Khambrel Marshall, who was one of the first people on the scene of the Southwest Inn fire, shared his complete archive of fire photos on the fourth anniversary of the tragedy:

PHOTOS: Reporter shares full archive of Southwest Inn Fire images

PHOTOS: Remembering the Southwest Inn hotel fire

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"I was traveling outbound on the Southwest Freeway on my way back from a shoot at Furr High School with photographer Wendell Johnson.

"From a distance, we saw smoke drifting across the Southwest Freeway. As we got closer, it was clear that what was at first just heavy smoke was now building into a full-fledged fire.

"We made a U-turn at Bellaire Boulevard, and because the first fire trucks were arriving as we were, we parked and I began taking pictures.

“I was impressed with the focus of the firefighters as they prepared to go toward what was a clear danger. None of us could know then that the Southwest Inn fire would turn into the deadliest single day for the Houston Fire Department.”