Firefighters tackle blaze close to home

LA MARQUE — Firefighters spent Friday hooking computers back up and moving furniture back into place, while arson investigators picked through the rubble of a neighboring store looking for clues.

The moving and searching came after a Thursday night fire left a neighboring store a total loss and threatened the city’s fire station.

Firefighters had returned to the station after battling a house fire in the 200 block of Beatrice and were rolling up their hoses when they noticed smoke rising from the Dollar King store, 1107 Bayou Road, next to their station about 8:40 p.m. Thursday.

They called the Texas City Fire Department for help, then pried open the doors of the store, as the smoke was so thick inside that firefighters could not immediately determine its point of origin.

“It turned out to be all the way in the back of the store, so you had these guys trying to reach their hoses all the way back there,” said La Marque Fire Chief Robert Buckner. The fire soon spread into the ceiling.

Firefighters soon found themselves with a pair of challenges. They would have to put out the fire and defend their own station, which was quickly becoming threatened.

Crews from Texas City, Dickinson, Hitchcock and Santa Fe pitched into the effort, while nearby residents helped remove gear from the endangered station.

The combined efforts of the firefighters managed to stop the blaze before it damaged the station severely. The station sustained mild smoke damage, and a store on the opposite side of the Dollar King store suffered some fire and smoke damage.

“Everyone rolled up their sleeves and dug in, took a stand, and were successful at it,” Buckner said. Dickinson Fire Marshal Keith Kiplinger was one of the outside officials who came to help. He said he was also impressed by the sense of unity among the members of departments from various cities. “Everybody worked together really well,” he said.

Kiplinger came to the scene after one of La Marque’s arson investigators was sent to the hospital for treatment of high blood pressure. He was treated and released. The fire has been labeled as suspicious, while investigators seek the cause.