HOUSTON — The Houston Fire Department is mourning the loss of one of their own after he died battling a three-alarm warehouse fire in the Greater East End Wednesday night.
Marcelo Garcia, 42, has been identified as the firefighter who died in the line of duty battling a fire. A second firefighter was hospitalized but is expected to be OK.
Garcia was a 10-year veteran assigned to Station 23, fire officials said. He died when a wall collapsed during the building fire.
The incident began when fire crews responded to a building fire just before 11 p.m. on Supply Row near Polk Street, just west of Highway 90.
According to fire officials, a second alarm was pulled at 11:04 p.m., and minutes later, a mayday was called following a wall collapse, leading to a third alarm.
Garcia and another firefighter were taken to Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center after being injured in the collapse.
HFD Chief Thomas Muñoz said Critical Incident Stress Management teams are offering support to the firefighters involved, and assistance is also being provided to their families.
“We ask the City of Houston to keep the Garcia family and the Houston Fire Department in your prayers as we mourn our brother,” the chief said.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire also offered his condolences to the family of the fallen firefighter.
"This is the hardest part of my role as mayor of this great city - to respond to a tragedy involving one of our first responders, one of our heroes," the mayor said. "On behalf of the citizens of Houston, I offer my deepest condolences to the Garcia family."
Watch their full press conference below:
Fire officials said the fire has been extinguished but no word on how it started.
Stay with KHOU 11 News as we bring you more on this developing story.