Local Hotel Fire, ATF Investigating

[Diane Lane]

A local hotel went up in flames yesterday evening. It was a big mess, with black plumes of smoke and traffic diverted, but thankfully, (and amazingly), no one was hurt. Reports yesterday stated that a smell of gas was reported prior to the fire. Now, the city has stated that ATF (the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) is investigating. I certainly hope arson wasn't involved. The hotel was nice, and seemed to be popular. It was just down the street from the NASA Johnson Space Center. One of the local news videos showed a drone filming the fire. I'm not sure who owned the drone, but it's the first time I've seen a video of a drone videoing an incident, so it was unusual. I'm interested to see the results of the investigation. Seabrook, TX - Official Website

 

[Philosophydaddy]

Maybe the owner of the drone lived near by and wanted to use it to get a birds-eye view of the fire. I don't think the presence of the drone should be cause for suspicion. I do wonder, though, why ATF is getting involved. Was there a weapons or moonshine cache found? I don't think people grow tobacco illegally but I could be wrong about that.

 

[Diane Lane]

Actually, my comment about the drone was unrelated to the possibility of arson or explosives, which are reasons ATF could be involved. I thought it was odd that the news station was posting video of a drone filming the incident. Perhaps their helicopter crew was using the drone to get a secondary vantage point, I don't know, but if so, they should have stated that, so we'd know what we were watching. Hopefully there'll be more information soon, because although it probably wasn't the case, several potential terrorist targets are located in the vicinity.

Incidentally, I'd forgotten that the title of ATF has been updated to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

 

[Philosophydaddy]

Huh ok. Well, today I learned. I guess I skimmed over the exact location though. It makes sense to be extra careful around installations such as NASA and other such facilities because, as you said, they are potential terrorist targets. In that context it does seem a bit out of place for a random drone to be flying around filming a fire that could have been the result of an explosive or arson.

 

[Diane Lane]

I worked at JSC (NASA) during 9/11, and shortly after, either the day after, or within a few days, we had a small plane buzzing our building, and had to call the FAA, which jumped right into action and investigated it. Things we might have considered harmless before then can no longer be assumed to be pranks. Unfortunately, times have changed. Airspace over places like that is regulated, and I'm not sure how far the perimeter spans. The Port of Houston and a cluster of petrochemical plants are also nearby, and are considered terrorist targets. I think the drone was an after effect, probably a local, as you said, or possibly from a news station. The ATF is more likely looking into the origin of the fire than the drone. I'll try to post updates here, in case anyone's interested. I'm always interested when there's a possibility of certain elements, such as terrorism, drugs, gang-affiliation, etc., so tend to pay attention to incidents like this. I saw mention of meth lab, but that was unofficial, and could just be gossip. The hotel and area are more upscale than the usual places meth labs are found (because they obviously don't want to get caught, and don't want to stand out), since the Seabrook police are usually ahead of the curve regarding potential crimes.

 

[dyanmarie25]

Thankfully, no one has been fatally injured/hurt. I hope this is just an accident, not planned at all. It would be quite alarming if someone really did set out that fire.

 

[Diane Lane]

I agree, @dyanmarie25. There hasn't been an update on the fire. At this time, they're saying that they believe it was accidental, but that the investigation is still ongoing, which could mean anything. Ironically, some of the guests were firefighters. I don't know why they were staying there, maybe because there was a local event planned that weekend that involved antique boats and cars, but I'm not sure. I'm still amazed that no one was hurt...that's pretty much unheard of, with a blaze this large.

 

[bala]

Do you have a link for us to read further.It would be a great to know any good information on this.
To everyone,pls include a link in all your posts so that we can read further.

 

[missbishi]

I suspect that the drone was just sent by the cops or firefighters in order to get a better view of what was happening. I think we'll be seeing more drones being used in similar situations int he near future - they seem like a great way to capture potentially ipmportant informaton without putting lives at risk.

 

[DancingLady]

I can't imagine what the motive would be to burn a hotel, especially if it was not I financial trouble. I suppose there are messed up pyromaniacs who might commit arson anywhere, but I wound think an accident much more likely. If they had s large bar and substantial beer and wine stock there would have been plenty of flammable things to cause a really bad fire.