page_title: Southwest Inn fire
section_title: Fire
hierarchical_section_title: Southwest Inn fire / Fire
caption_attribution_description: English: Aftermath of the Southwest Inn fire
context_page_description: The Southwest Inn fire in Houston, Texas on May 31, 2013 was a fire in an Indian restaurant that spread to an adjoining hotel. The fire claimed the biggest casualty loss for the Houston Fire Department since its inception. Four firefighters were killed and 13 others were injured that day while fighting the five-alarm fire at the Southwest Inn located in Southwest Houston. On March 7, 2017, Captain Bill Dowling, who lost both his legs battling the fire in 2013, died of complications from his line-of-duty injuries.
context_section_description: The fire was first reported at 12:09 PM CST on May 31, 2013 in the Bhojan Indian restaurant, during its lunch service. At the time of the fire, 45 guests were registered at the hotel. The front desk clerk and another hotel employee began knocking on doors and windows in the hotel, alerting customers that there was a fire and they needed to evacuate. Twenty HFD vehicles arrived at the scene with lights flashing, including fire trucks and ambulances. The four fatalities occurred twelve minutes after the arrival of the first engine, when the roof collapsed.
  The hotel's roof had collapsed in the course of the fire. Firefighters, believing that people were trapped inside, entered the building. Two of the deceased were from Station 51 and two were from Station 68. The fire also caused injuries to 14 additional firefighters; one fell into a coma and another required leg amputation.
  The four firefighters who died in 2013 were Robert Bebee, Robert Garner, Matthew Renaud, and Anne Sullivan.
caption: Remains of the hotel
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