Vacant Building Fire in The Alief Area

WHAT: Vacant building fire.
WHEN: January 21, 2025, at 2:58 p.m.
WHERE: 12602 S. Bellaire Blvd. 77072
INJURIES: No reported injuries.
PROPERTY SAVED: Not available.
DAMAGE: Not available.
CAUSE: HFD Arson investigators ruled the cause as incendiary with charges accepted for reckless arson by the District Attorney’s Office.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Firefighters arrived on scene to find heavy smoke coming from a vacant building. They made an offensive attack and found a roof collapse. Crews switched to a defensive attack and the fire was controlled and fully extinguished.
Two suspects, using the building while experiencing homelessness, were in the Houston Police Department’s custody. HFD Arson investigators were requested to investigate and determined the two individuals “were reckless as they placed an excessive amount of lumber on the fire within the structure. The excessive fuel load caused the fire to communicate to the structure, consuming combustible materials until the structure collapsed.
48 personnel responded to this incident, including firefighters from Stations 15, 78, 83, 10, 75, 76, 57 and Rescue 1 and 10.