HOUSTON – Firefighters across the Houston area are responding to a troubling number of fires at vacant and unsecured buildings. It’s a trend officials say poses risks to neighborhoods and first responders alike.
Data from the Houston Firefighters Association shows at least 30 fires in the past seven months involving abandoned properties. Those fires have happened at a wide range of locations, including apartment complexes, churches, hotels, warehouses, offices, and retail buildings.
Just this week, two fires underscored the ongoing issue.
One broke out at a vacant hotel in Channelview, marking the seventh fire at that property in the past year, according to officials. The Fire Marshal’s Office says the cause of that fire is still under investigation.
Earlier in the week, another fire happened at a vacant church off the North Freeway. Court records show a 42-year-old man is charged with reckless arson. Investigators say the man told them he was trying to stay warm and said the fire was an accident.
In Spring Branch, residents living near the Park on Westview Apartments say the vacant complex has become a growing safety concern. The property has been empty for some time and caught fire back in November.
One mother who lives across the street did not want to show her face but says the repeated fires and activity around the building have changed how she lives her daily life.
“The fires is a big issue and I also I think it’s the reason why some of these homeless people hang out over here,” she said. “I mean, it gets kind of scary at nighttime walking to the store, you know, or even just standing down there. I be nervous,” the mother told KPRC2 Reporter Re’Chelle Turner.
She said she no longer allows her children to walk near the complex.
“No, no ma’am. They can’t walk to the store. Not even my big boys,” she said.
The mother says a previous fire left her especially shaken.
“I just want us to be safe around here, and I be scared with it being such of a big fire,” she said. “Last time it was an explosion, and I was like, ‘Lord, I hope it don’t, you know, catch our apartments and stuff on fire.’”
Fire officials say vacant and unsecured buildings are especially dangerous because they are easy to access and difficult to monitor. They also say repeated fires weaken the structure of buildings, increasing the risk for collapse and putting firefighters in danger.
Houston Firefighters Association President Marty Lancton says the issue isn’t limited to the city.
Even though the Channelview fire happened in Harris County, Lancton says fires at abandoned buildings are happening everywhere and many of those properties need to be torn down.
“Yes, that’s correct. And you talk about the one yesterday in Channel View, and when you have large fires like that and have repeated fires, my understanding, in places like that, it’s just even worse because every time that there is a fire, it erodes the structure of the building,” Lancton said.
City leaders say changes are coming. Next week, the mayor and several other city officials are expected to hold a press conference at the Park on Westview Apartments to outline plans to demolish the complex.
KPRC 2 will be there and will continue to follow efforts to address vacant and abandoned properties across the region.