In the press

Featured below are news articles and photos involving the Palestine Fire Department. The department would like to thank the contributing agencies for providing us with this material.

Fire damages Ranch House

By BETH FOLEY

The Palestine Herald

PALESTINE — An early morning fire damaged a popular restaurant in Old Town Palestine this morning.

A fire broke out in the attic of The Ranch House Restaurant at 305 E. Crawford St. around 1:20 a.m. today, damaging the roof but leaving the building standing.

“When we pulled up, flames were on the roof, on the ridge and on both ends,” Palestine Fire Department battalion chief Mike Pell said. “I was very leery of getting people on the roof because it’s a ‘bowstring’ roof. A lot of firefighters have gotten hurt over the years on those.

“We put a master stream through the hole (in the brick facade front) and it knocked (the fire) down. It gave us the upper hand.”

In addition to using the water cannon on Engine 1 and lines from nearby fire hydrants, firefighters also positioned Tower 1 in a parking lot behind and above the rear of the restaurant as a precaution in case the fire had intensified, Pell said.

“We got real lucky,” Pell said, noting that the dining room suffered mainly water damage. “In the middle of the building the ceiling did burn through.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation by city fire marshal Alan Wilcher.

While the age of the historic building was not immediately available, it had been converted into a steak house restaurant and opened in late September, 1996. Current owner Lannie Dugan had purchased the restaurant in May, 2007.

By BETH FOLEY

The Palestine Herald

Palestine firefighters use a platform behind the old Palestine Ice Company to spray flames at the rear of the William George produce building on Saturday afternoon. Crews had the fire under control in about half an hour. The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to officials.

Fire damages warehouse

PALESTINE — Billowing black smoke and flames brought out onlookers as fire damaged part of an empty storage area at the William George Wholesale Produce facility on Spring Street Saturday afternoon.

The fire broke out around 4:16 p.m. Saturday, according to Palestine Fire Department battalion chief Ernest Crawford, and was brought under control by 4:48 p.m.

“It was a storage building right on the back side of the William George Produce building,” Crawford said. “It was contained to that one building.”

The building, between 50 and 60 years old, had been used as a storage cooler, he said.

Palestine police officers diverted traffic off of Spring Street between Kroger and Sycamore Street for a short time while firefighters brought the blaze under control. Some curious onlookers gathered briefly in the parking lot behind First Presbyterian Church to watch as firefighters suppressed the flames from a platform by the old Palestine Ice Company, behind Security Finance on Spring Street.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Crawford said.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

Palestine emergency personnel watch as Rick Zambotti, owner of Auto Clinic wrecker service, uses a hydraulic lift on his flat bed wrecker to slowly pull a maroon Chevy S-10 pickup truck upright Monday morning.

MARY RAINWATER / The Palestine Herald

Santa Claus and his helpers wave to fans from a fire engine while riding along the route of the Palestine Christmas Parade of Lights Saturday night. The parade concluded at the Palestine Visitor Center, where Santa was on hand to visit with children. The overall winner was the Palestine Firefighters Association.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

Palestine firefighters use Tower One’s ladder and lights to check the roof at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on S. Loop 256 Sunday night for a possible fire after receiving a call about smoke in the building. According to Battalion Chief Ernest Crawford, a mechanical problem with an air conditioner on the roof led to the alarm. The McDonald’s restaurant at the front of the building was evacuated as a precaution.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

Palestine firefighter Steffen Wilson, left, uses a hydraulic cutting tool to assist in removing the driver of a 2004 GMC Sierra pickup truck which rolled on Texas 155 Friday morning, while firefighter John Norwood, center, stands by.

MARY RAINWATER / The Palestine Herald

Members of the Palestine Fire Department clean up after a two-vehicle accident that occurred at about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 200 block of E. Spring Street in front of Security Finance. According to fire department officials, the female driver of a white Chevrolet sedan was trapped inside the vehicle and had to be extracted. While the extent of the driver’s injuries were not known, PFD officials reported that she was taken by helicopter to a Tyler hospital. The driver of the Dodge truck, an unidentified male, was unharmed.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

Palestine Fire Marshal Alan Wilcher, foreground, takes down information during a mock disaster drill Wednesday morning at the Emergency Operations Center in the Anderson County Courthouse Annex. Tom Wardell of the Palestine-Anderson County Amateur Radio Club is in the background. Representatives from numerous city, county and state agencies, as well as from surrounding counties, participated in the drill, which was designed to test the coordination of and communication between a variety of agencies during a disaster. The drill’s scenario involved a series of explosions in Palestine, Anderson County and the Lake Palestine area, and concludes today.

Late-night blaze damages local business

By PAUL STONE

The Palestine Herald

PALESTINE — No injuries were reported as a result of a Tuesday night fire which caused severe damage to a local mailing business.

A fire at Mail & More located at 712 W. Oak. St. was reported to authorities at 9:39 p.m. Tuesday, according to Palestine Fire Marshal Alan Wilcher.

Firefighters arrived to discover “heavy fire coming out of the front west end of the building,” Wilcher said. The fire started in the business’ office area and was at least partially electrical in nature, he added.

“We’re still looking into it,” Wilcher said late Wednesday afternoon. “There’s two or three things I’m looking at. It (electrical) definitely had a part in it.”

Although the blaze was mostly “under control” within 10-to-15 minutes of firefighters’ arrival, the business sustained heavy damage, according to the fire marshal.

“It can probably be rebuilt,” Wilcher said about the building, saying much of the damage was smoke-related. “There’s going to be some structural damage. The fire did actually burn into the attic space.”

Wilcher said there is nothing presently suspicious about the blaze.

The building’s owner is Marsha Langston, while the business is owned by Bill Rawson, according to Wilcher. Neither the building or business were insured, he added.

Rawson has indicated he hopes to reopen his mailing business in the near future at another location in Palestine, possibly as soon as two-to-three weeks.

Palestine firefighters remove the burned remnants of a bed after a house fire at 721 Fulton St. Thursday afternoon.

ANGIE ALVARADO / The Palestine Herald

Playing with matches cause of local house fire

By ANGIE ALVARADO

The Palestine Herald

PALESTINE — A fire started in a bedroom by young children playing with matches damaged a wood frame house at 721 Fulton St. Thursday afternoon.

The blaze originated on a bed in the children’s room at the front part of the house, according to Palestine Fire Marshal Alan Wilcher.

“The fire was mainly confined to the one room,” Wilcher said, adding that the rest of the house suffered smoke damage. “The sheet rock in the bedroom kept the fire in the room.”

The fire marshal commended the quick thinking of the home owner, Dedrick Lacy, for attempting to extinguish the fire, first with a bed comforter and then with a garden hose until it got too hot.

“He then woke his wife up and told her to call 911,” Wilcher said. “He (Lacy) did a fantastic job. We don’t recommend fighting a fire. But from the start, he had good instincts.”

Lacy, who watched as firefighters brought out burned remnants from his children’s bedroom, said he was sitting on the front porch waiting for the newspaper to be delivered when he noticed smoke coming from the home.

“I got up quickly and tried to put it out,” he said adding he was glad no one got hurt. His wife, DaWanda Lacy, had been asleep in another bedroom when the fire started at about 2 p.m.

Units from the Palestine Fire Department responded quickly, Wilcher said.

“Thankfully no one was injured,” he added. “We’re going to be talking to the little ones about (fire) safety.”

According to Wilcher, the Red Cross was putting the Lacy family up in a local hotel for the next three nights and had given them money for clothes and food.

Palestine firefighters and DLS HazMat officials work to drain an overturned tanker truck of its remaining fuel Monday afternoon on Loop 256 near U.S. 79.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

Leaking gasoline leads to precautionary evacuations

By PAUL STONE

The Palestine Herald

PALESTINE — Traffic was rerouted near the intersection of U.S. 79 and North Loop 256 throughout the day Monday after a tanker truck spilled hundreds of gallons of gasoline onto the roadway following a collision with another vehicle.

Around 8:40 a.m. Monday, a Spencer Distributing tanker truck overturned after colliding with a Ford F-150 pickup carrying a trailer loaded with a car which apparently attempted to turn onto the Loop in front of the oncoming tanker truck, according to authorities.

Ernest Crawford, battalion chief for the Palestine Fire Department, said the tanker truck spilled “between 800 and 1,000 gallons” of gasoline onto the roadway.

The tanker truck was transporting approximately 8,500 gallons, according to authorities.

Nearby homes, hotels and businesses within roughly a 1-mile radius, including the Palestine YMCA, were evacuated shortly after the accident due to safety concerns.

Traffic was also rerouted around the area beginning shortly before 9 a.m.

The driver of the Spencer Distributing tanker truck, whose name was unknown as of late Monday afternoon, was transported to Palestine Regional Medical Center, but his injuries were not believed to be serious. Meanwhile, a haz-mat team remained on the scene late Monday afternoon helping clean up the spill.

Palestine firefighters use a heavy duty fan to blow smoke toward the back of an apartment building at 1404 N. Queen St. Wednesday evening. Battalion chief Victor Poff said the fire was electrical in nature and quickly contained. No one was injured.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

Palestine Police Det. Nick Webb, center, takes photos of an accident involving a tractor-trailer, passenger car and two pickup trucks on West Oak Street Friday afternoon as Justice of the Peace James Westley, left, arrives at the scene.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

A pair of Palestine firefighters climb down from the roof of the burning house. No one was injured in the Thursday morning blaze.

CHRISTINA CUTLER / The Palestine Herald

Fire pours out of a house located at 703 N. Queen St. in Palestine Thursday morning. Palestine Fire Marshal Alan Wilcher said an electrical short started the fire.

SUSIE MOORE/Courtesy Photo / The Palestine Herald

Local law enforcement and firefighters work to clear U.S. 79 west of Palestine after a fatal two-vehicle accident Monday night.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

Palestine firefighters check an overturned Target tractor-trailer on North Loop 256 near East Murchison Street Thursday afternoon. According to Palestine Police Cpl. Gregg Loden, the truck, driven by Alva Murphy of Huntsville, was traveling south on Loop 256 about 3:14 p.m. when its right-side tires left the pavement, pulling the truck down into the ditch. Loden said that when the truck’s tires hit a culvert at Murchison Street, the impact caused the truck to roll onto its right side and slide across both lanes of traffic. No other vehicles were involved.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

Texas Department of Public Safety officials and firefighters from the Palestine Fire Department and Lone Pine Volunteer Fire Department worked to clear debris and fuel from the road after a tractor-trailer overturned Friday afternoon on U.S. 287 just north of the split with Texas 19. Cleanup efforts took several hours.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

A neighborhood dog sniffs around a mattress and box springs left outside after an early morning fire at Northside Heights Apartments at 1700 N. Jackson St. Wednesday. No one was injured in the fire, which destroyed the 16 units in the building.

BETH FOLEY / The Palestine Herald

Palestine Fire Department gets grant for new radios

By BETH FOLEY

The Palestine Herald

PALESTINE — Palestine Fire Chief Henry York’s firefighters soon will have several new radios, thanks to a $10,000 grant.

The fire department received the $10,000 grant from Papa John’s Risk Services Corp. and Fireman’s Fund Insurance to purchase 10 new narrowband radios to replace the department’s aging wideband radios now in use.

“The addition of this new equipment will improve our resources and ability to protect the residents of Palestine,” York said in a prepared statement. “Communications is key when responding to any emergency and the new radios will ensure that all Palestine fire-rescue personnel are receiving and transmitting information on the proper channel.”

By 2011, the narrowband radios will be a Federal Communications Commission requirement.

York said that bids have been let for the radios and he expects the department to have them in less than a month.

The grant is part of a nationwide program called Fireman’s Fund Heritage, which is funded by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. The program is designed to provide needed equipment, training and educational tools to local fire departments.

Since 2004, Fireman’s Fund has issued grants totaling more than $10 million to hundreds of departments, with the help of independent insurance agencies.

York urged area volunteer fire departments to take advantage of the program, too.

“The volunteer fire departments are encouraged to apply for that grant,” York said, “because they can get it just as well as I can.”

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