The Southwest Inn fire in Houston , Texas on May 31, 2013 was a fire in an Indian restaurant that spread to an adjoining hotel. The fire claimed the biggest casualty loss for the Houston Fire Department since its inception. Four firefighters were killed and 13 others were injured that day while fighting the five-alarm fire at the Southwest Inn located in Southwest Houston . On March 7, 2017, Captain Bill Dowling, who lost both his legs battling the fire in 2013, died of complications ( pneumonia or cellulitis ) from his line-of-duty injuries.
30-670: The Southwest Inn was located in the Greater Sharpstown district of Southwest Houston, along a portion of Interstate 69 " Southwest Freeway ". The hotel was previously called the Roadrunner Inn. It was owned by Criterium Systems, Incorporated, a company in California . An Indian resurant called "Bhojan" was attached to the hotel. The restaurant described itself as a Gujarati -style thali vegetarian restaurant. The hotel could hold up to 100 guests. Some people used
60-615: A 5-alarm fire at Southwest Inn, located in Greater Sharpstown. The district consists of around 10 square miles (26 km ) of land, bounded by the Westpark Tollway to the north, Interstate 69 / U.S. Route 59 and Bissonnet to the south, Beltway 8 to the west, and Hillcroft to the east. I-69/U.S. 59, the Westpark Tollway, and Beltway 8 are the main transit arteries. The main commercial arteries of
90-435: A part of Fire District 68, and Station 10 Bellaire, a part of Fire District 83. Station 51 opened in 1962. Since then it had two facelifts and a renovation in the financial year of 1999. Station 10, previously located in what is now East Downtown , relocated to its current location in the new Chinatown and in Greater Sharpstown in 1985. Station 68 Braeburn Glen, adjacent to the district, opened in 1973. The neighborhood
120-713: A room which functions as a public meeting room and an in-service training room which seats up to 80 people. The facility has a gymnasium, a jail lockup for class C prisoners, down rooms for men and women, a break room, a kitchenette, full-sized lockers for the employees, an emergency generator, an ice machine, and hurricane supplies. The City of Houston Health Department operates the Sharpstown Health Services clinic. Harris Health System (formerly Harris County Hospital District) designated Valbona Health Center (formerly People's Health Center) in Greater Sharpstown for ZIP code 77074. The nearest public hospital
150-720: Is Ben Taub General Hospital in the Texas Medical Center . The Texas Juvenile Justice Department (formerly of the Texas Youth Commission ) Houston District Office is located in Greater Sharpstown. In 2007, the group Neighborhood Centers Inc. announced that it would build the Gulfton Neighborhood Campus at the intersection of Rookin Street and High Star Drive when it raises $ 20 million. The Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center,
180-701: Is governed by a management district which is created by the Texas Legislature . Construction of the Sharpstown community, the namesake of the district, began circa 1955. The Texas Legislature approved the formation of the Greater Sharpstown Management District in 2005. On August 20, 2000. Houston METRO provided its first 24-hour bus service from Downtown to Sharpstown Center. However, due to financial difficulties in building light rail, they had to discontinue
210-599: Is headquartered in Southwest Management District. Two Houston Public Library facilities, the M. E. Walter Neighborhood Library and HPL Express Southwest, are in Greater Sharpstown. Houston Christian University (renamed from Houston Baptist University in September 2022) is located in Greater Sharpstown. Houston Community College provides the district's residents with community college services. Westwood College 's Houston South Campus
240-527: Is in Houston City Council District J. District J was created to allow Hispanics to more easily elect representatives who cater to them. Some of it is in city council district F. The Houston Fire Department operates fire services in Greater Sharpstown, with the primary run area of Fire District 68 covering a lot of territory in Greater Sharpstown. Fire stations located within the district boundaries include Station 51 Sharpstown,
270-552: Is located in 2 Arena Place in the Arena Place complex in Greater Sharpstown. Prior to its dissolution, A.D. Vision , an anime and manga company, was headquartered in Greater Sharpstown. The district headquarters are located in Suite 109 at 9788 Clarewood Drive. The management district is governed by a board of directors, and board meetings are held once every month in the district headquarters. Most of Greater Sharpstown
300-684: Is served by three Houston Police Department patrol divisions. Most areas north and west of U.S. Route 59 are served by the Midwest Patrol Division, while the far western portion of Greater Sharpstown is served by the Westside Patrol Division. Areas south and east of U.S. 59 are served by the Fondren Patrol Division. The portion that is now in the Midwest Patrol Division was formerly in the Westside Patrol Division. The Midwest division operates
330-627: The Las Américas Newcomer School . Sharpstown International is a magnet school . Liberty High School , an alternative high school for recent immigrants, was from 2017 on the campus of Sharpstown International. In 2022 it moved to the Houston Community College (HCC) Gulfton Campus. There are three Alief ISD elementary schools in the district: Best, Audrey Judy Bush, and Collins. Chancellor, Gladys Birdwell Horn, Landis, and Sneed serve other sections of
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#1732779850810360-452: The 1:35 am, 2:35 am, and 3:33 am eastbound trips. The last trip from Downtown would leave at 1:05 am, and the First trip at Harwin and Reims would start at 4:00 am Effective January 26, 2003. They have not brought back 24 hour service since then. After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Louisiana , the zip code 77036 received the largest concentration of Katrina evacuees of any area in
390-569: The HFD database. City of Houston inspectors had also cited the restaurant for violations. The restaurant's most recent citation was in March 2013 for failure to clean grease traps. On May 8, 2013, the final inspection of the hotel property stated there was "no action required." The fire was first reported at 12:09 PM CST on May 31, 2013 in the Bhojan Indian restaurant, during its lunch service. At
420-703: The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science. Once autopsies were completed, they were taken to local funeral homes. The fire was investigated by the HFD, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). A total of 50 investigators from city, state, and federal agencies helped. The long-term patrons at the Southwest Inn were displaced by the fire. The area Plainfield Inn donated rentals of twenty rooms for their short-term recovery stays. The memorial services for
450-531: The Ranchester Storefront along Bellaire Boulevard in the new Chinatown and in Greater Sharpstown. The Midwest Patrol Division headquarters are located in a 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m ) building in the district. The city purchased the building, a former business college, in November 2007. The operations in the facility began on March 1, 2010. The process of the purchase and renovation
480-917: The Revolution Campus in Greater Sharpstown. Harmony Public Schools also has its headquarters in Greater Sharpstown. In addition, it has Harmony Science Academy High School, which was ranked in the top ten schools in the Greater Houston area by Children at Risk , and the Harmony School of Innovation in Greater Sharpstown. Girls and Boys Preparatory Academy , a charter school, was in Greater Sharpstown. Greater Sharpstown also has three private schools. St. Francis de Sales Catholic School (grades K-8), Strake Jesuit College Preparatory and Saint Agnes Academy , are located in Sharpstown. Islamic Education Institute of Texas (IEIT)
510-627: The city. 5,991 Katrina evacuees moved into over 2,600 apartment units. Within a wider area, from the 610 Loop to the Houston city limits and from Westpark Drive to U.S. Highway 90A (South Main), 23,000 Katrina evacuees settled there. On May 31, 2013, the Houston Fire Department suffered its largest casualty in a single event, the Southwest Inn fire , with four firefighters killed and 13 others were injured while fighting
540-560: The death of the firefighters, including: Anne McCormick Sullivan Elementary School, in the Riverstone community and in unincorporated Fort Bend County , was named after one of the firefighters. It is a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District . In 2018 a lawyer accused Motorola of being responsible for mistakes in the radio network and that they contributed to the deaths. Families of
570-571: The deceased were scheduled to be held at Reliant Stadium on Wednesday June 5, 2013. Captain William 'Iron Bill' Dowling, who had lost both legs in the roof collapse, died on March 7, 2017, from complications related to his injuries from the fire. A memorial service was held on March 15, 2017. In June 2015 the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released their final report and found eight contributing factors to
600-402: The district are Bellaire Boulevard and Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59. The management district government estimates that the district is 15 minutes driving time from Downtown Houston . The Galleria , Greenway Plaza , and the Texas Medical Center . The district has about 8,000 single-family houses and 7,000 condominiums and townhouses. Greater Sharpstown includes the Sharpstown subdivision,
630-1082: The district residents are African Americans , Chinese Americans , Hispanic Americans , Vietnamese Americans . Up until the late 1980s White Americans were the majority. Many former residents left, going to First Colony , Missouri City , Pearland , Stafford , and Sugar Land as the City of Houston expanded. National Oilwell Varco has its headquarters in Greater Sharpstown. MetroCorp Bancshares and subsidiary MetroBank have their headquarters in Greater Sharpstown and in Chinatown . Southwestern National Bank also has its headquarters in Chinatown and Greater Sharpstown. La Subasta Inc. (formerly El Día, Inc.), which publishes La Subasta [ es ] and which published El Día , has its offices in Greater Sharpstown. KPRC-TV has its studios in Greater Sharpstown. The China Airlines Houston Mini Office (Chinese: 休士顿营业所, Pinyin: Xiūshìdùn Yíngyèsuǒ )
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#1732779850810660-460: The district. Secondary schools in that district in the SWMD are Sugar Grove Middle School, Jane Long Academy (6-12), Sharpstown High School , and Sharpstown International School (6-12). A portion of the district is zoned to Sharpstown High. A portion of the district is served by Margaret Long Wisdom High School (formerly Robert E. Lee High School) outside of the district. The Long campus houses
690-677: The district; Chancellor has no bilingual students, and the ones in the district go to Sneed instead. For intermediate school Alief Middle, Budweig, Klentzman, and Owens serve sections of the district; Alief Middle does not have bilingual students, and they go to Owens instead. Middle schools serving sections include Alief Middle, O'Donnell, and Olle. For senior high school Alief ISD residents are randomly assigned to Alief Elsik , Alief Hastings , or Alief Taylor high schools. YES Prep Public Schools has its headquarters in Greater Sharpstown. In addition YES Prep operates YES Prep Gulfton (originally YES Prep Lee), YES Prep West, and YES Prep South at
720-532: The four firefighters immediately killed filed a lawsuit against Motorola. In 2019 the wife of Dowling filed a lawsuit against Motorola. Final reports: Greater Sharpstown Southwest Management District , formerly Greater Sharpstown Management District , is a district in Houston , Texas , United States . The district is split into 6 neighborhoods: Sharpstown , Chinatown , Mahatma Gandhi District/Little India , Westwood , Harwin , and University . It
750-441: The hotel as a rooming house and stayed there for months at a time. Since 2009, according to fire inspection records, the hotel had received citations for issues in the overall fire alarm system: broken smoke detectors in several rooms, issues with fire suppression systems, expired permits, and obstructed exits. In 2011 HFD's database stated that the hotel was "in compliance" with regulations. In 2012 additional citations appeared on
780-640: The neighborhood center at the intersection in Greater Sharpstown, was scheduled to open in December 2009. About 73% of the area of Greater Sharpstown is in the Houston Independent School District (HISD), while the remaining 27% is within the Alief Independent School District (AISD). The HISD section is served by multiple schools. Bonham, Neff, Sutton, and Ed White elementary schools are in
810-487: The portion of Chinatown inside Beltway 8 , a portion of Forum Park , and other nearby subdivisions. The district is divided into several zones, including: In 2010 the district announced that it will implement new and distinctly designed street signage to mark the various zones within Greater Sharpstown (replacing the existing standard city of Houston signage); installation began in the late winter of 2011. As of 2010 Greater Sharpstown has about 94,500 residents. Among
840-507: The roof collapsed. The hotel's roof had collapsed in the course of the fire. Firefighters, believing that people were trapped inside, entered the building. Two of the deceased were from Station 51 and two were from Station 68. The fire also caused injuries to 14 additional firefighters; one fell into a coma and another required leg amputation . The four firefighters who died in 2013 were Robert Bebee, Robert Garner, Matthew Renaud, and Anne Sullivan. The four bodies were taken via ambulances to
870-418: The time of the fire, 45 guests were registered at the hotel. The front desk clerk and another hotel employee began knocking on doors and windows in the hotel, alerting customers that there was a fire and they needed to evacuate. Twenty HFD vehicles arrived at the scene with lights flashing, including fire trucks and ambulances. The four fatalities occurred twelve minutes after the arrival of the first engine, when
900-433: Was a two-year project. The official grand opening of the station was held on April 27, 2010. The station has 159 police officers and civilians assigned to the patrol division, one investigative first responder (IFR) squad, and two narcotics squads. The facility has available furnished space for two additional investigative squads and 20,000 square feet (1,900 m ) of unfurnished space for future expansion. The building has
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