Houston Firefighter Who Died After Wall Collapsed During Warehouse Blaze Remembered as ‘True Hero’

After he and another first responder were hurt fighting a warehouse fire, a Houston firefighter lost his life.

According to Fire Chief Thomas Muñoz, who addressed at a press conference overnight, the Houston Fire Department responded to the Polk Street fire at approximately 10:50 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

According to Muñoz, a mayday call was made from within the blazing structure when a wall collapsed less than ten minutes after firefighters got on the scene.

The fire department then reported that two firefighters were taken to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. Marcelo Garcia, 42, was one of them; according to Muñoz, he passed away from his wounds.
Garcia had spent the last six of his ten years with the HFD at Station 23. According to Muñoz, he was “a true hero.”

The fire chief told reporters, “He was a man who got up every morning to come to work so he could help others and save lives.”

Patrick “Marty” Lancton of the Houston Firefighter’s Union noted at the press conference that it was “a very sad day for the Houston Fire Department.”

Four years after his father died while on duty, a 25-year-old Oakland firefighter drowns in San Diego.
We pray and grieve together, but above all, we remember our brother and his life. During the news conference, he stated, “We honor it together.”

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John Whitmire, the mayor of Houston, said he had just met Garcia and called him a “young man with his life in front of him.”

Whitmire told reporters, “Firefighter Garcia left this morning expecting a good day, a hard day, a dangerous day, but he did expect to go home.” “We will honor Firefighter Garcia throughout the city,” he added later. We shall never forget him.

Before they perished from blaze, girls ages 6 and 8 were playing with fire at a birthday celebration.
According to Muñoz, the warehouse fire was eventually put out.

According to the fire chief, the second firefighter harmed fighting the fire had non-serious injuries.

In a post on X, the fire department stated, “Funeral information will be shared in the coming days.”