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On February 14, 1921,
a firefighter died after a wall collapsed and buried eight
firefighters during a raging fire in the Texas Lamp &
Oil Company at the corner of Baker and Pine. Seven of the
firefighters were quickly rescued. The other firefighter, H.
A. Harris, suffocated from the dense smoke, before he could
be rescued. Harris was a former Dallas firefighter who had
joined the fire department only two weeks
earlier.
Commissioner Anderson
had been a firefighter and knew the burden of the long work
schedule. He felt it important that firefighters spend time
with their families every day, so he created a second
platoon in 1921. The two platoons then alternated monthly
between 10-hour day shifts and 14-hour night
shifts.
By 1921, all of the
fire apparatus had been motorized. The last of the horses
were retired to a city park.
A civil service
grading system was introduced by Anderson in 1921 to
evaluate the efficiency of a firefighter.
C. J. "Roxy" Ollre was
appointed fire chief to replace Chief Wells in 1923. Allie
Anderson was still fire commissioner. The fire commissioner
certified three assistant chiefs from a list furnished by
the Municipal Civil Service Commission: G. W. Richardson, C.
A. Middlekauf, and E. B. Hartwell. There were a total of 231
uniformed firefighters in the department.
In his first year,
Chief Ollre was greeted with a fire at the corner of Main
and Capitol. The early morning fire was in the three-story
Capitol Hotel, which quickly went to a general alarm.
Ladders were raised to rescue a number of guests from the
upper floors. Only one of the rescued guests was seriously
injured. The hotel was destroyed, and eight adjacent
businesses were heavily damaged. Firefighters found five
bodies during overhaul of the gutted hotel.
Fire Station No 16
went in at 1413 Westheimer and Yupon in 1923 with a 750 gpm
pumper.
Because major fires
downtown snarled traffic, and onlookers interfered with
firefighters, Fire Commissioner Allie Anderson appointed a
safety committee in 1924. The purpose of the committee was
to respond to major fires and assist police in controlling
the traffic and the crowds. He also ordered firefighters to
inspect buildings which were potential fire hazards, and
planned to create a fire prevention division.
 A new central
fire station opened at the corner of Preston and
Caroline in 1924. Both the offices of the fire and
police departments occupied upper floors of the
five-story structure. Included was the city jail.
Fire alarm and police dispatchers shared the
penthouse.
The Houston
Fire Fighters' Benevolent Association was organized
in 1924 by members of the department. Each
firefighter was asked to donate two dollars a month
to help pay funeral expenses of active and retired
firefighters.
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