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Fire Station 68
Fire Station 68 History:
HFD Fire Station 68 is a two-story, modern-construction, brick station located
at 8602 Bissonnet @ South Gessner in Southwest Houston. The station opened,
unofficially, in November 1972. The original crew consisted of one Chauffeur
(now titled Engineer/Operator) and one Pipeman/Ladderman (now titled Firefighter). The Houston Fire Department was at the time, working a three-shift
schedule; 10-hour days, 14-hour nights.
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The
first apparatus assigned to the
station was a 1967 International Booster. The truck rode and drove like a
tank. Members of the station referred to it as “The Red Rocket”.
The area surrounding the station was mostly farmland. Virtually every road
to the south and west were either dirt or gravel. Highway 59, now known as
the Southwest Freeway, ended at Bellaire Blvd. Emergency responses were few
and far between in those days.
The
closest fire station was Fire Station 51, located
on Bellaire Blvd and Bintliff St. The dispatchers would often forget that Station
68 existed and would send Engine 51 into 68’s territory. The men assigned
to 68’s would stand in the driveway and laugh and wave at Engine 51
as they drove past. Engine 51’s crew would wave back giving the old
one finger salute as they disappeared down the long dusty road.
The
following is a time line of events from the beginning. It is far from
complete but we will add to it as the information becomes available.
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1973 - Station 68 officially opens. The first engine assigned to the station was a 1968 Ward LaFrance. This pumper was transferred to
68’s from Station #8, located on Crawford @ Polk in downtown Houston.
It was equipped with a 1000 gpm pump and a 5-speed standard transmission.
The engine was a Cummings diesel. That was unique due to the fact that
all other diesel-powered apparatus in the Houston Fire Department at the
time had Detroit diesel engines.
-
 1974 - The first ladder truck was placed in-service at 68’s. It was a 1970
Ward LaFrance that was transferred from Station 21, located on S. Main
near Loop 610.
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1975 - Ambulance 68 is placed into service.
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1976 - Station 68 becomes a district house due to a realignment of districts.
The district house had been located at Station 48, located on Chimney Rock
@ Burdine. The chief’s assigned to 48’s were transferred to 68’s.
The chief’s radio call number was # 114. District Chiefs: Blackmon,
Olgetree and Ross are believed to be the first District Chief’s assigned
to 68’s.
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1979
- Station 68 received their first “new” apparatus on May 31. It was a
1978 American LaFrance Tele-Squirt. By now the area had grown
tremendously and along with the growth came a great increase in
emergency responses. This meant that the apparatus wouldn’t last as
long as they used to. The City of Houston wasn’t in the habit of
purchasing new apparatus when needed. The normal practice was to
refurbish what they had. The turn-around time for such a project was
rather long. Years to be more precise. When it came time to replace,
repair or refurbish the “Squirt”, the men at 68’s weren’t about to
leave the project to chance. Terry Crawford along with Gary “Boo”
Bourgeois, David “Radar” Kwiatkowski, Robert Todd, Mark Carroll and an
HFD mechanic named Jerry Rosenquist, completely rebuilt the “Squirt”.
Of course, others contributed to the effort but the names of those
individuals are not available at this time.
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1979 - A new district was added at Station 59. This resulted in a change
of the radio call number for District 114. It would now be know as District
119.
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1983 - The Houston Fire Department changes all of the apparatus radio call numbers. Example: 268 became Engine 68; 368 became
Ladder 68; 1168 became Ambulance 68; District 119 became District 68 and
so on.
-
 1998 - Fire Districts on the southwest side are realigned. District 68 is reassigned to Fire Station
10, located on Corporate Dr. @ Bellaire Blvd and 68’s became part
of District 82, which now included Fire Stations 82, 68, 59, & 80.
-
2002
- Medic 68 is converted to Ambulance 68. Squad 68, a 1998 Chevrolet
Suburban, is added to Station 68 as well. The Paramedics assigned to
Medic 68 are transferred to Squad 68. Firefighter EMT's assigned to the
Engine & Ladder add the Ambulance to their riding rotation. The ALS
Squad is part of a new program from the HFD Medical Director to help
improve repsonse times. The theory is that busiest existing Medic Units would be converted to BLS Ambulances. An ALS Squad would be placed in
service to support 3 to 4 BLS Ambulances. If the EMS call is determined
to be a BLS call, the Squad would then be put back in service to assist
other BLS Ambulances. This is done throughout the city.
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2003 - Fire Station 68 is designated as a Paramedic "rotation"
station. This allows Paramedics assigned to Squad 68 to rotate to a
Fire Apparatus every third working day, giving them an opportunity not
normally given HFD Paramedic who have traditionally been forced to ride
only EMS units.
-
 2006 - Fire Districts throughout the city are realigned, yet
again. District 10 is moved to Fire Station 83, losing Fire Stations 73
& 51. The end result is the return of District 68, home to Fire
Station 68, 51, 82, & 73 - all busy stations. 68's flat-bottom
Evacuation Boat & Booster Truck are moved to Fire Station 82 to
make room for District 68's unit.
Things have changed a lot through the years. What was once a slow and often
forgotten station out in the middle of a cow pasture has turned in to one
of the busiest fire stations in the United States. In the year 2000, Fire
Station 68 was the busiest fire station in the City of Houston and was listed
as the 20th busiest station in the United States, according to the Firehouse
Magazine annual report.
Today, Firehouse 68 is home to over 60 men & women. There are 14 assigned positions over four shifts, plus Paramedic students & Probationary Firefighters. There are three officers on each shift: a District Chief, Senior Captain, and Junior Captain. The Chief, even though he is the highest ranking in the station, often has little input over station affairs. That is usually left to the Senior Captain, who is considered the station captain. The Senior Captain rides the ladder truck, driven by an Engineer/Operator, with two Firefighters in the back. The Junior Captain rides the Engine Pumper, driven by another Engineer/Operator, with two additional firefighters in the back. The Firefighters who are EMT's rotate shift to shift from apparatus to the BLS Ambulance. Firefighters who are Paramedics also rotate shift to shift from apparatus to the ALS squad.
In 2006 the five apparatus of Firehouse 68 made 16,816 responses, making it the second busiest fire station behind Firehouse 46, which made 19,530 repsonses between their six apparatus.
At 6,149 calls, ALS Squad 68 was
officially the busiest apparatus for the Houston Fire Department for
the year 2006 - with an average of 16.85, or 17 calls each day.
Listed below is a breakdown of total number of runs and rank (department-wide) for Firehouse 68 for 2006:
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District
Chief
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Ladder
Truck
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Fire
Engine
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BLS Ambulance
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ALS Squad
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Totals
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1,191*
#1
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1,466
#2
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3,241
#7
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4,769
#2
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6,149
#1
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16,816
#2
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*District 68 & District 83 were reformed in early 2006 by collapsing
District 82, District 10, & District 69. District 68's number of
calls was reformulated by adding half of District 82's & District
10's calls.
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