I worked down the street, approximately 50 yards from the Houston Distribution Center and I remember this fire. Yes, the center was storing different chemicals throughout the warehouse and there was a need to find out exactly what was being stored before any attempt to put water on the fire. As a result their was contamination surrounding the soil around the building and into the neighborhood right behind the distribution center. A class action lawsuit was filed against the Distribution Center from the residential community because of the contamination, several people became sick, etc. I remember that for approximately 2 years after, the area was off-limits, they had boarded up the area with a large wooden picket fence and started doing soil removal.
Those old VHS videos really gad better quality than I remembered. They tend to get fuzzy when you zoom in, but zoomed out the picture is quiet clear (for the time.)
It really isnt. Phones have only recently had good video quality, so people tend to forget that actual video cameras have been around for more than a 100 years.
There are aspects about analog video that still make it look more real than digital. Analog has the problem of never being exactly the same though like digital and generation loss is impossible to avoid.
@ you are comparing two entirely different situations. This is not an aircraft with a pilot and crew aboard. This is a structure that is going to burn for awhile and all the running around in the world won't change that. Try running in full structural firefighting gear, in Houston in the summer. You won't last long, I don't care how athletic you think you are.
I’m not a fire fighter but clearly the fire crew had a massive task in putting out this fire. So I’m not here to give advise or criticise as I’m leaving that to the high number of ‘experts’ leaving messages. Although I would like to say keep up the good work to the fire service.
Let me explain this to you so a lot of you will understand. I live in the neighborhood behind those warehouses. That Saturday morning I was cutting the yard. The sky went black all of a sudden. I got scared be cause one side of the sky was blue and the other side was black. The reason why the fire department was so slow to react was because there was a massive explosion. I didn't hear it...possibly due to mowing my yard...but it had to been because the fireball was HUGE. it blocked the sun. The fire was so large that I thought it was coming from the local middle school...which is about halfway between my house and the warehouses. At the end of my side street near a park you can SEE the flames about maybe half a mile away. Fun fact: they were storing solid rocket motor fuel (powdered aluminum) there. It reignited twice over the course of some weeks... From my understanding there were not enough watermains in the area for a fire (7 alarm) that size. Furthermore...nobody would confess what they were storing 20 yards away from a residential community so HFD were hesitant to just throw water on it...might have made it worse.
I have a question. Why is it that EVERYONE assumes there is nothing being done, when you can ONLY see part of the building from one angle? You can't see ANYTHING going on on the left side of the building, the back, or even the far right. ???
I don't understand rushing down the road, blowing sirens and air horns to get there, and then when they get there, they walk around waiting for the hotdogs to arrive?
For those wondering why the FD was waiting, it's safer to wait for the foam to arrive and then attempt to extinguish. Just dumping water on it will spread the chemicals without really doing much to reduce the BTU's. The foam will work to smother the fire and blanket the chemicals to extinguish with significantly less water volume and the attendant pollution run-off problems.
I’m a firefighter and with a fire this size you literally have to let it burn off a bit before you take action. Smoke like that is called “black fire” and burns at 1000 degrees or more. So if the captain send people inside, they’d literally be sending firefighters into their death
Are they supposed to go inside with fire extinguishers? Only LDH's will have any effect on a fire that size.......and each firefighter doesn't get their own.
FD probably knew what was in the building. Company made greases and other lubricants and use of water would most likely just spread the fire. This fire also must have a very high heat output which most likely water wouldn't be enought to stop it. So I would say just protect what's not burning and let the hazard burn itself out. Evacuate area until smoke clears.
Typical of today's distribution centers and big box stores. As a fire protection specialist, these facilities are "Doomed" as soon as the fire breaks through the roof. Down comes the roof sections bringing automatic sprinkler piping leaving wide open piping to do little. Next time you go in any big box store, look how high the cardboard boxes are stored ; right up into the AS piping. Best thing is to Evacuate quickly and get safely. Buildings and Contents are insured, but jobs are lost!
LOL so true... when the alarm goes, they scram to the trucks and god forbids if there is a car slightly impeding their way, but when they get there, it's just another chill day on the job
I made the mistake once of trying to drive a few miles to get closer to a fire, a curiosity thing. I'll never do that again, traffic seriously backed up, redirected, it was a mess.
6:02 minute video and I didn't see one drop of water sprayed until 4 and a half minutes into the video. Were they waiting for the fire to burn itself out ????
@@retiredarthritic2083 yep what you said. People got to also remember even back in 95 VHS was still very popular in use. So someone had to transfer that tape recording onto a media that was/would make it possible to have it become digital and to then have quality options available.
Huge conflagration fires like this sometimes they wright off and fight only what they think can be saved. With this fire in 1995 they may not have had enough water supply in the area to combat such a fire load plus probably no fire sprinklers
@@maidenfan4927 there was someone laughing off Camera but at no time did I see firefighters laughing on Camera as for those standing around and there are several reasons for that Rehab is when the firefighters are pulled off the fire to rest cool down and rehydrate RIT Rapid Intervention Team these are fire fighters that must be assembled and ready to act if there are firefighters in trouble. Third is newly arriving firefighters arriving on scene and are awaiting assignment orders to be able to coordinate their efforts with firefighters already onscene. If you think you are so brilliant try signing up an doing some actual firefighting I did. There is far more going on than even the public watching the fire at the scene can be aware of. The firefighters At 1:38 are heading for rehab to recover from their turn on the pipes or the truck work they were doing.
yet another video where firefighters are moving slower then my grandma. I was a wildland firefighter and we moved faster then this to save trees and bushes let alone someones property.
![ROSÉ (로제) - number one girl [더 시즌즈-이영지의 레인보우] | KBS 241129 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A9oByH9Ci24/mqdefault.jpg)
I worked down the street, approximately 50 yards from the Houston Distribution Center and I remember this fire. Yes, the center was storing different chemicals throughout the warehouse and there was a need to find out exactly what was being stored before any attempt to put water on the fire. As a result their was contamination surrounding the soil around the building and into the neighborhood right behind the distribution center. A class action lawsuit was filed against the Distribution Center from the residential community because of the contamination, several people became sick, etc. I remember that for approximately 2 years after, the area was off-limits, they had boarded up the area with a large wooden picket fence and started doing soil removal.
It would be much safer for everyone if this company did not stay within an urban area.
@@CardioEnf Houston does not have zoning laws. Anything could end up being your neighbor
They should have a fire proof place where this stuff is stored.
Love how the people watching it are so calm
Why would they not be? What are they gonna be able to do about it? Might as well sit back & enjoy the show
Outstanding video quality for 1995.
Those old VHS videos really gad better quality than I remembered. They tend to get fuzzy when you zoom in, but zoomed out the picture is quiet clear (for the time.)
It really isnt. Phones have only recently had good video quality, so people tend to forget that actual video cameras have been around for more than a 100 years.
I thought the same thing.
Ikrr
There are aspects about analog video that still make it look more real than digital. Analog has the problem of never being exactly the same though like digital and generation loss is impossible to avoid.
Man this vhs camcorder was bomb. Higher quality than some videos today.
The video is from a news crew that was on the scene. Pretty sure they were using commercial digital beta tape...not vhs
It's amazing how slow these fireman move
@SRV. 123 Ever seen navy personnel put out a fire on a aircraft carrier, that's what I recommend Einstein
Wouldn't pay them in washers !!!!!
@ you are comparing two entirely different situations. This is not an aircraft with a pilot and crew aboard. This is a structure that is going to burn for awhile and all the running around in the world won't change that. Try running in full structural firefighting gear, in Houston in the summer. You won't last long, I don't care how athletic you think you are.
Houston, we have a problem.
Wolfgang548 , it is called “the fire department”😑
Wolfgang548 😂😂😂
Walter99 you didn’t get the joke
I’m not a fire fighter but clearly the fire crew had a massive task in putting out this fire. So I’m not here to give advise or criticise as I’m leaving that to the high number of ‘experts’ leaving messages. Although I would like to say keep up the good work to the fire service.
All because someone couldn't return the Red Swingline Stapler...
Or wouldn't let Milton have some cake......
A fire engine with a Detroit!? Fuck yea!
Let me explain this to you so a lot of you will understand.
I live in the neighborhood behind those warehouses. That Saturday morning I was cutting the yard. The sky went black all of a sudden. I got scared be cause one side of the sky was blue and the other side was black. The reason why the fire department was so slow to react was because there was a massive explosion. I didn't hear it...possibly due to mowing my yard...but it had to been because the fireball was HUGE. it blocked the sun. The fire was so large that I thought it was coming from the local middle school...which is about halfway between my house and the warehouses. At the end of my side street near a park you can SEE the flames about maybe half a mile away.
Fun fact: they were storing solid rocket motor fuel (powdered aluminum) there. It reignited twice over the course of some weeks...
From my understanding there were not enough watermains in the area for a fire (7 alarm) that size. Furthermore...nobody would confess what they were storing 20 yards away from a residential community so HFD were hesitant to just throw water on it...might have made it worse.
What area of Houston is this? What main road?
@@WiIdbiII the warehouses are on market. the cross street is gellhorn. They are across the street from the Budweiser brewery
I like how calm the people are 😂
3:07 'we're gonna be here for awhile' ..... Are you waiting for it to rain? . Is it out yet?
Very good
I hope they had a smoke detector installed to warn people it was on fire! 🥴😂
It's like the gates of Hell opened in that one building.
I remember this fire.
Wow look how black that smoke is, I wouldn’t be getting any closer to the building that’s for sure!
Benz Betz that’s why you don’t see anyone rushing.. no point now. The building is a loss
wow look how blac requinto no Google Oye Yes Google no
Fir
Surround and drown!🤗
there would be asbestos in that building for sure
I have a question. Why is it that EVERYONE assumes there is nothing being done, when you can ONLY see part of the building from one angle? You can't see ANYTHING going on on the left side of the building, the back, or even the far right. ???
We don't know anything else was being done. Not much was being done on the side we can see.
I don't understand rushing down the road, blowing sirens and air horns to get there, and then when they get there, they walk around waiting for the hotdogs to arrive?
The camera quality is better than my iphone one
For those wondering why the FD was waiting, it's safer to wait for the foam to arrive and then attempt to extinguish. Just dumping water on it will spread the chemicals without really doing much to reduce the BTU's. The foam will work to smother the fire and blanket the chemicals to extinguish with significantly less water volume and the attendant pollution run-off problems.
well put.
in this case, though, i don’t think anything could’ve saved the warehouse.
This is what you call a stucco foam building! A tornado would wipe it out as well
Should be banned, how it is still legally permitted for use as insulation and otherwise is beyond me
FIREMEN aren't doing a DAMN THING to put this FIRE OUT!!!
Can one hose put that out? I think they could be waiting for a helicopter. I don’t know a lot about it though.
The heat would probably vaporize the water before it hit the fire
I’m a firefighter and with a fire this size you literally have to let it burn off a bit before you take action. Smoke like that is called “black fire” and burns at 1000 degrees or more. So if the captain send people inside, they’d literally be sending firefighters into their death
@@SmoothBore-iq9wp no sir. That is not black fire.
@@kentcarter835 It’s a term for the smoke.
God bless those heroes
i mean at the start it looked like 1 of the firemen was drinking a beer
Prolly a lite beer, ...typical Merrcan...ya hearrrrrrr?
That's more air pollution then my car would ever give off.
The fire departments just driving around.
dont put water on a FIRE!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOO
Fireman just standing around
Randy Funk .
J CT vv
bjbn
!
Do want them to go inside?
Are they supposed to go inside with fire extinguishers? Only LDH's will have any effect on a fire that size.......and each firefighter doesn't get their own.
FD probably knew what was in the building. Company made greases and other lubricants and use of water would most likely just spread the fire. This fire also must have a very high heat output which most likely water wouldn't be enought to stop it. So I would say just protect what's not burning and let the hazard burn itself out. Evacuate area until smoke clears.
Absolutely nothing you can do with a large fire like that but allow it too burn it’s fuel off to a point where you can attack it .
Must have been an incredible fire load!
Typical of today's distribution centers and big box stores. As a fire protection specialist, these facilities are "Doomed" as soon as the fire breaks through the roof. Down comes the roof sections bringing automatic sprinkler piping leaving wide open piping to do little. Next time you go in any big box store, look how high the cardboard boxes are stored ; right up into the AS piping. Best thing is to Evacuate quickly and get safely. Buildings and Contents are insured, but jobs are lost!
Did the place have a sprinkler system?
Christopher Dibble the building was a complete loss no point risking lives
@@jmsnwrly9251 Master streams and an immense amount of water. Totally defensive.
Stand around and see if it puts itself out!!
That one obese man would have a difficult time trying to run away.
i don't get it... firemen response time is lightning fast but when they arrived at the scene they are taking there time
LOL so true... when the alarm goes, they scram to the trucks and god forbids if there is a car slightly impeding their way, but when they get there, it's just another chill day on the job
I made the mistake once of trying to drive a few miles to get closer to a fire, a curiosity thing. I'll never do that again, traffic seriously backed up, redirected, it was a mess.
Sorry, it’s time for our 15 minute break. We’ll be at Denny’s
6:02 minute video and I didn't see one drop of water sprayed until 4 and a half minutes into the video. Were they waiting for the fire to burn itself out ????
John Veglio do you honestly think anything would have changed the outcome?? What’s the hurry at that point
The sun: I can’t ever win if it’s not a fire it’s a cloud
It’s a pretty clear video for 1995
Singer it look like 1995 but why is there 720p I was expecting only 144p
@@EsmaKadir Most likely the video quality was set for 720p when the original video was transferred to the format used to produce this video.
@@retiredarthritic2083 yep what you said. People got to also remember even back in 95 VHS was still very popular in use. So someone had to transfer that tape recording onto a media that was/would make it possible to have it become digital and to then have quality options available.
20 years from now electric fire trucks? Naaaa.
I have never even heard of a 7 alarm wow I thought 4 was the most
Don't see much firefighting in this video.
That's for damn sure! Smh
with a fire that size, you don't attack it. You protect the exposures around the building and let it basically burn it's fuel out.
Those are some tired looking firefighters.
they got some sandwiches and stuff.
Hey, can I please use this in our upcoming film?
Whats the film about man?
Jason Marden damn, thats a movie id pay good money to see my guy 😂
Wow ,thats amazing 😳
Air quality must have been ruined that day
Ruined that year
So true dude
There is a fire this size I JUST witnessed in Utica mi. It was huge!
Lots of people walking around. Anybody planning to put some water on it?
everybody dressed fresh af in 1995 sheesh
ROFLMAO “the Salvation Army has sandwiches waiting for us”….. Houston Fire Dept, “we’ll show up bring som ribs & have a cookout”..great job guys.
I heard salvation army but noooooooo….really??😂😂🤫
Oh my Daisy
I don't think I would be standing so close, dilly-dallying as a potential conflagration was right in front of me.
Houston itself would have to catch fire for it to be a conflagration
That's awful the Houston fire standing around while the place burns
What’s a 7 alarm fire in Houston
Waiting 7 hrs until rolling out the first water hose
Is this fire still burning ?
Texas knows how to barbecue!
My grandpa remembers this fire he told me about it. Why do The Houston fire trucks look the same?
80 % of that water on the ground wasnt run off , it was sweat
let it burn...go back to the station...have some ice cream
this just in...25 years later the fire is out!
That smoke is Chubby chubby chubby
Were BLM at it back then too?
Nossa que absurdo
Os bombeiros só chega e ficam olhando e nada fazem...
does anyone know if people were hurt in this fire?
This is still the era when >>men
At the start it looks like they have more water in the parking lot than on the fire....
Ladder 45 to command, where's the fire?
Not much fire fighting going on.
Look at the fashions in ‘95!
Looks like a volcano
Is it out yet?
੭ਲ
੨ੁ6੬ਤਰੜੁ
We are not putting water on fire, we have to water the street
Lentos, indecisos, dudibativos, lamentable.
Perder 10 minutos antes de atacer el incendio es absurdo, llegan a remojar las brasas.
WAS THERE A WATER SHORTAGE ?????
No se si es porque prácticamente se quemó el inmueble ; pero me parecen demasiado lentos los bomberos 🚒
Shouldn't have put that mix tape on in the office.
Get a main hose line on and start attacking the fire.EARN YOUR PAYCHECK
It looks like some of these firefighters are on vacation here
Why is it that the American Fire Brigade always walk around watching the fire being out of control and no hoses on the go😡🤬
U dont see the hoses laid out already?????
,eu não entendo tem tanto treinamento,chega na hora demora, guando decide apaga ,aí já era o fogo já consumiu com tudo
how did it start the fire
Giant ants started it because the factory owner wouldn't give them any Bazooka Joe bubble gum.. 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃👴👵👩👮👷
@@TheKonga88 LMAO. 😂
Back when Fire was hotter and water was wetter! When men where made of steel and the ladders where made of wood!
That is one mean looking fire 👿
how did it develop so without intervention ?
New word: "FOREGONE."
A Structure Like This Having No Sprinkler system "
It did have a sprinkler system, but the flames overpowered it.
@@ireland1953 Thanks I Didn't See A Connection on the Wall
why call the fire dept. ?
they arent doing anytjing.
None of these guys speak English.
What a bunch of disinterested fire fighters walking around like they cant be bothered
Huge conflagration fires like this sometimes they wright off and fight only what they think can be saved. With this fire in 1995 they may not have had enough water supply in the area to combat such a fire load plus probably no fire sprinklers
Why does it take so long to began putting water on fire.
Beg my pardon,
But why don’t they just go back to the station and go back to sleep!!!
Why does it seem like the guys just looking at the burning structure for a while before the hoses are used?
Planning any coordinated fire attack requires situational awareness and the only way to achieve that is to observe the fire and how it is behaving.
Retired Arthritic ...gimme a break. They were laughing and meandering around. Was pathetic to watch
Planning is wonderful but need to plan on the move. WAAAY too slow.
@@maidenfan4927 there was someone laughing off Camera but at no time did I see firefighters laughing on Camera as for those standing around and there are several reasons for that Rehab is when the firefighters are pulled off the fire to rest cool down and rehydrate RIT Rapid Intervention Team these are fire fighters that must be assembled and ready to act if there are firefighters in trouble. Third is newly arriving firefighters arriving on scene and are awaiting assignment orders to be able to coordinate their efforts with firefighters already onscene. If you think you are so brilliant try signing up an doing some actual firefighting I did. There is far more going on than even the public watching the fire at the scene can be aware of. The firefighters At 1:38 are heading for rehab to recover from their turn on the pipes or the truck work they were doing.
Maiden Fan and your comment is pathetic to read
If we had a big helicopter, with a Bambi bucket, this fire would be put out fast.
Standing and watching ain't putting it out
Craig Ellis
How much water is needed to extinguish this fire. What is burning? Does any of the contents react with water?
Well coordinated command will tho, which is what the standing men were doing.
Craig Ellis asshole comments are no way to go...
"Surround and watch burn down"
This happen 24 year ago
Wow!
yet another video where firefighters are moving slower then my grandma. I was a wildland firefighter and we moved faster then this to save trees and bushes let alone someones property.
or you know, it's a defensive fire and the goal is to basically keep it contained. wildland fires are a completely different beast.
Unusefull firefighters
Always 🔥 in US in one or the other states 😏.
at the it looked like one of the firemen was drinkin a beer