HOUSTON – A structure collapse in a burning building killed four Houston firefighters, the deadliest fire in the history of the country’s third-largest fire department, officials confirmed in a statement Saturday.
The four firefighters – Capt. Matthew Renaud, Engineer Operator Robert Bebee, Firefighter Robert Garner and Probationary Firefighter Anne Sullivan – were responding to a five-alarm blaze reported around noon Friday at an Indian restaurant in southwest Houston that soon spread to a neighboring hotel. More than 200 firefighters eventually arrived to fight the blaze, officials said.
Houston Fire Chief Terry Garrison and Mayor Annise Parker said during a Friday briefing that at some point, a wall inside the burning buildings collapsed on the firefighters who died. Saturday’s statement reiterated that the deaths stemmed from a “collapse,” and a Fire Department spokesman said it was best described as a structure collapse.
Three firefighters died at the scene, while a fourth was taken to a nearby hospital and later died, officials said.
