s3mh Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 The 2nd body has been discovered according to Channel 13http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7880925&rss=rss-ktrk-article-7880925 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seoid Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Caretakers, while fantastic, get to know a tremendous amount of personal details about the person they take care of....especially long term caregivers. I agree. There are some fantastic caretakers and then some that take advantage of who they are intended to protect and care for. What I thought was curious, though perhaps nothing, is the primary caretaker was not in the house and her adult son was the resident in the garage apartment. Regardless of what happened, it's a terrible loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Got this about an hour ago:----------------UPDATE: Heights Area FireHouston Fire Department Arson investigators located the remains of a second person in the debris of a Heights area home this morning. The remains are yet to be identified pending review by the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.The Houston Fire Department was dispatched to the home at 1135 Heights Boulevard just before 4 a.m. on Monday, January 3, 2011. Firefighters arrived on scene at and found the two-story, nine-thousand square foot home engulfed in flames. The intense fire prevented firefighters from making a primary search of the structure.Nearly 250 firefighters were called to the scene to fight the three-alarm blaze and to protect nearby homes from exposure. The fire was tapped out at 5:30 a.m. .The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Updates will be released as they become available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights_yankee Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Maybe placed there post-fire?I don't think so. After looking at the picture again, I am thinking the wind was very strong that night/morning and I would guess it was blowing west, away from the urn... I am trying to get the picture on here but it won't use either image extension from the shuttercal site... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJxvi Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 The wind was blowing West down 11th. It was smokey all the way at Durham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Was the woman who owned the house (in the Chron photos) killed in the fire?And 9,000 square feet! For a house, that's huge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Was the woman who owned the house (in the Chron photos) killed in the fire?And 9,000 square feet! For a house, that's huge!I believe the current updates are that the 2 bodies found are the woman (wheelchair bound) and one of her caretakersYes, it was a massive house. Beautiful, too. She really did a remarkable job building it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyHatch Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 If the fire started in the attic, her alarms and sprinklers wouldn't have gone off until it was too late, right? By that time, the fire may have gone through the walls. Is there any smoke or heat detector that would work in an unfinished bungalow attic? If so, I want to get it ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Heat rises. Fires in attics generally burn off the roof but rarely get to deep into the interior of the house. Usually with attic fires the most damage to the interior is from water from the fire department. The interior of this house was completely destroyed. It had to start on the first floor. At least that's my observation from the pictures I have seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Yeah, I drove by the house yesterday. It is completely gone. Seldom have I seen a fire so completely consume a structure as this one did. It pretty much had to have started near the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Have they ruled out arson yet? I mean, weren't there a rash of arson fires in the Heights last year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Chron has some updates. They say no accelerants were found. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7373508.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Got this about an hour ago:----------------UPDATE: Heights Area FireHouston Fire Department Arson investigators located the remains of a second person in the debris of a Heights area home this morning. The remains are yet to be identified pending review by the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.The Houston Fire Department was dispatched to the home at 1135 Heights Boulevard just before 4 a.m. on Monday, January 3, 2011. Firefighters arrived on scene at and found the two-story, nine-thousand square foot home engulfed in flames. The intense fire prevented firefighters from making a primary search of the structure.Nearly 250 firefighters were called to the scene to fight the three-alarm blaze and to protect nearby homes from exposure. The fire was tapped out at 5:30 a.m. .The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Updates will be released as they become available.As a sidenote, "250 firefighters"?!?!?! My god. That's INSANE.Houston has 4 men per truck and approximately 8 trucks worth of men (counting chiefs and ambulances) per alarm, or 32 total. 32 x 3 alarms = 96 men, approximately. Not sure how they got almost 3 times that amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Houston has 4 men per truck and approximately 8 trucks worth of men (counting chiefs and ambulances) per alarm, or 32 total. 32 x 3 alarms = 96 men, approximately. Not sure how they got almost 3 times that amount.Typical reporting. Even with multiple chiefs, volunteers, rehab and cascade trucks 250 seems a little high. Probably closer to 150. And remember there was a shift change during overhaul so they may be counting the second crew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 As a PSA, I'd like to ask Fringe what tips he has about fire prevention and mitigation should one break out. I live in an old frame house; we are up to code and are pretty militant about prevention and escape situations, but this fire really brought out a strong childhood fear of house fire in me. Any tips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Typical reporting. Even with multiple chiefs, volunteers, rehab and cascade trucks 250 seems a little high. Probably closer to 150. And remember there was a shift change during overhaul so they may be counting the second crew.The first reports I read stated over 100. Later, it jumped to 250. Maybe you are right that they included a shift change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 As a PSA, I'd like to ask Fringe what tips he has about fire prevention and mitigation should one break out. I live in an old frame house; we are up to code and are pretty militant about prevention and escape situations, but this fire really brought out a strong childhood fear of house fire in me. Any tips?Smoke detectors. They may not save your house but they will at least save you. Get the dual sensor type (ionization and photoelectric). They react differently to different types of fires. Get a fire extinguisher. Cooking is the leading cause of fires in homes. Always have 2 ways out. Make sure that bedroom window hasn't been painted shut like so many old homes I have seen. Other than that, just use common sense and you will most likely have nothing to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat_zor Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I'm not a fire expert by any means, but I have a few more that may help. Be aware that many children & teens won't wake to the noise that a typical smoke alarm makes. So make sure you aren't relying on that to rouse your kids in an emergency! There are some alarms that allow you to record your voice which *may* do better waking up your kids. Also, if you have a second story make sure you have (and know how to use!) an escape ladder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Smoke detectors. They may not save your house but they will at least save you. Get the dual sensor type (ionization and photoelectric). They react differently to different types of fires. Get a fire extinguisher. Cooking is the leading cause of fires in homes. Always have 2 ways out. Make sure that bedroom window hasn't been painted shut like so many old homes I have seen. Other than that, just use common sense and you will most likely have nothing to worry about. additional recommendation.think twice before putting a smoke detector in your kitchen.most smoke detectors work by sensing the number of particulates floating around in the air, which is what smoke is made up of. Anyway, bacon, or something like that could very easily set off a smoke detector.at least get one that is easy to silence when you're cooking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 True. The worse place for a detector is in or near the kitchen. Also want to keep them out of the attic because they will collect dust and create false alarms. I would suggest a heat detector for these areas but they are usually only available with commercial systems, not stand-alone's. Also keep in mind detectors don't last forever. After 5 - 7 years they begin to loose their effectiveness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 How long can the pile of rubble stay there? Until the woman's estate is settled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Pile of rubble is gone. I presume that means the investigation is complete? Anyone know what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksmu Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Pile of rubble is gone. I presume that means the investigation is complete? Anyone know what happened?I am very interested to hear the official what happened report as well....Hopefully someone on here knows someone who knows something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Lot cleared, land for sale:http://search.har.com/engine/1135-S-Heights-Bl-Houston-77008-6915_HAR62660564.htm$825,000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Build your dream home on this dream lot in the highly sought after Historical Houston Heights.Heh. Pretty funny that they put this in there. Since the house burned down, you can build whatever you want, making the land much more valuable than those with an old "historic" house on them. Note the $40 psf price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights_yankee Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 "Historical." Really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOpens Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 "Historical." Really?Yeah, that sounds silly. But so does "Historic Houston Heights." There is very little in my immediate neighborhood that is "historic," at least as that term is normally defined and not as it is defined by the city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barracuda Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Yeah, that sounds silly. But so does "Historic Houston Heights." There is very little in my immediate neighborhood that is "historic," at least as that term is normally defined and not as it is defined by the city.I would say it's the opposite. The Heights as a whole does have some historic value, but on an individual basis most of the homes do not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOpens Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I would say it's the opposite. The Heights as a whole does have some historic value, but on an individual basis most of the homes do not.I disagree with the first part of your comment, and agree with the second part. Regarding the first part, this is where I would say the Heights has historical value, but relatively little historic value. (So maybe the realtor's description was correct after all....) Whatever historic value the Heights ever had was a direct result of, and reflected in, the development of the community. Regarding the second part, the reality is that much of that historic value is gone. Granted, there are a few exceptions, but they are not the norm. The City has redefined historic so that a pile of sticks assembled in 1955 is historic. We now have an artificially inflated population of historic structures that really are not historic. In fact, most of them are just plain old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyHatch Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I am very interested to hear the official what happened report as well....Hopefully someone on here knows someone who knows something!I am told by a friend of mine who is high up in HFD that they will likely not be able to determine the cause. There were no accelerants(sp?)found. I believe they were told that the lady liked to burn scented candles and that could be a potential cause. I wonder why the sprinklers didn't work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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