HFD Victory

Bush still burning: Two days after West Houston wildfire began, it's "undercontrol" but not out

The large wildfire in George Bush Park that started Tuesday afternoon is "well under control" according to a Houston Fire Department spokesperson, but parts of the fire are still burning two days later. The Texas Forest Service and HFD personnel are still on site, keeping any lingering fire in check.

Right now, there are two Texas Forest Service bulldozers and seven HFD boosters (water-spraying vehicles) in George Bush Park. That's a far cry from the 50 pieces of firefighting equipment, the four bulldozers and the 175 firefighters that were on the scene at the height of the wildfire Tuesday night. In a just-released update, an HFD official says that the fire has been contained to 1,500 acres in the park.

With how rapidly wildfires have spread during this great drought summer of 2011, losing "only" 1,500 acres is a significant victory.

With how rapidly wildfires have spread during this great drought summer of 2011, losing "only" 1,500 acres is a significant victory. The Houston Fire Department's new update on the Bush wildfire — issued Thursday afternoon, long after most people in Houston had moved on from the story — underscores the price in man hours it takes to secure those victories though. Attentions may have turned elsewhere, but firefighters remain on the scene, working on a fire that's not out yet.

Indications are that the Bush wildfire started near the road on the 16700 block of Westheimer Parkway, before roaring quickly through the dry, brittle grass of the park. Firefighters are working to isolate the remaining parts of the fire by making sure everything within 300 feet of the dozer lines is extinguished. A dozer line is a path scraped free of vegetation and brush by a fire department dozer vehicles. These lines cut off a fire and help give firefighters more manageable smaller blazes to handle.

The Bush wildfire may not be completely out, but HFD officials did meet their vow that no one would have to evacuate their home due to this West Houston blaze. At the height of the wildfire, the plumes of smoke could be seen as far away as the Galleria area.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”