Houston firefighters protect nearby houses from old motel blaze

There were some close calls as firefighters battled the blaze

HOUSTON, MISS. (WCBI) – As soon as Houston Fire Chief Jonathan Blankenship rolled on the scene to the structure fire, he knew there would be some unique challenges.

“We had heavy fire visible from the north end. This building was well built, they don’t build them like that anymore, the wood is going to burn hot, it is old wood,” Chief Blankenship said.

Although the old Doss Motel, and its eight units had sat vacant for several years, but that did not diminish the danger firefighters faced. The chief says firefighters encountered a backdraft.

“It is an explosion, where fire is super hot, uses up all its oxygen, creates an explosion, blew the door out about ten feet from the front of the building, thank the Lord none of our personnel was up by that doorway,” Chief Blankenship said.

The first priority when fighting any fire is making sure everyone is safe, a close second, keeping the fire from spreading. You can see there is only a few feet separating the old motel from an occupied house.

“Fire was traveling down the attic, through these rooms, we knew if it ever got to the L shape and made a turn it would be near the house,  we had to stop it there or the house would be in danger. Our guys went on the roof, cut a hole in the roof and they stopped the fire. It was a great stop,” he said.

Firefighters were on scene for several hours and they returned early Friday to knock down a few hot spots. And although he didn’t want to go on camera, the property owner is grateful no one was hurt and firefighters were able to keep the blaze from his home.

The Chief said there were fifteen firefighters from the city of Houston on scene, with assistance from three other departments in the county battling the blaze.

He said it is too early to tell what sparked the fire.