UPDATE 4:43 p.m.: Mayor Annise Parker's office confirmed that four firefighters were killed in today's hotel fire.
----------
At least two firefighters are in critical condition and several others were injured after battling a five-alarm blaze at a motel along the Southwest Freeway near Hillcroft.
KHOU reports that the flames broke out just after noon at the Southwest Inn (6855 Southwest Fwy). While it remains unclear where the blaze started, early information appears to point to an attic or the kitchen of the motel's attached Bhojan Restaurant.
Jeff Caynon, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, tells the Houston Chronicle that a roof collapse injured five of the more than 100 firefighters on the scene.
Smoke described by one KHOU reporter as "jet black and acrid" continues to pour across the highway, bringing traffic to a virtual standstill in both directions.
An HFD captain at the scene originally told reporters that four firefighters were in critical condition but later revised that number to two. Two firefighters were taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. The other four were taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital, just blocks from the fire.
Traffic is backed up for miles in the inbound lanes of the Southwest Freeway, where the feeder road is closed near Bellaire. Three main lanes were shut down to make room for emergency vehicles. Rubberneckers are also slowing traffic in the outbound lanes, KHOU reports.
View raw footage of the fire from KHOU:
More raw video of the fire:
Smoke pours across the freeway, slowing traffic in both directions.
