Fireground audio from 4-alarm hi-rise fire in Houston with reported mayday. At least 5 firefighters hurt. Standpipe issues.
The report from the fire scene doesn’t occur until about midway through the above video.
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Much of the Houston Fire Department spent Monday night on the scene of a 4-alarm fire at the JPMorgan Chase Bank building (formerly the Gulf Building). The location is the 700 block of Main street at Capitol Street in downtown. The fire was reported around 8:00 PM Houston time.
The fire was on the 27th floor. This is now reported to be the older, smaller tower and not the 75-story newer structure that is the tallest building in Texas.
You will hear a couple of crews calling for water starting around 6:20 on this clip. The mayday is reported around 7:00.
Updates: At 9:40 PM, six additional pumpers were dispatched to the scene.
At 10:14 PM, seven additional pumpers and two ladder trucks were requested. News reports indicate the fire is under control.
The fire is confined to the 27th floor of the historic building. Firefighters said it’s primarily offices up there.
Reports of people trapped in an elevator was a false alarm, (Acting Chief Rick) Flanagan said.
At first, there was a problem with the building’s internal water supply – apparently a broken pipe – that HFD is solving by piping water directly into the building.
Five firefighters were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, said assistant chief Jack Williams. Their conditions are not considered life-threatening.
Earlier from KRIV-TV:
An official at the scene reported smoke was billowing from the 27th floor of the building.
A mayday call was sent out after several firefighters got lost in the building, but they all made it out ok.
A little history of the former Gulf Building from KTRK-TV:
The JP Morgan Chase Building has been a Houston landmark since the 1920s. It stands 430 feet high and cost and estimated $6 million to build. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the 1931, when a taller building in Kansas City was erected.
