KHOU torches Galveston

Reporter: I heard there were a couple of blocks on fire?

Galveston Fire Chief Mike Varela: We did have that earlier...I don't know if they're still on fire. Again, that was when hurricane force winds were in place and the water was so high we couldn't even get the fire department vehicles in the areas.


I know this because I have a lot of family in the Texas Gulf Coast area and was checking on the status of Ike and saw this report headline from KHOU: Galveston fire chief: Entire neighborhoods are burning. Fifteen seconds from a seven minute report, coming three minutes and fifty seconds into the report, I finally learn that it is not as serious as the headline states. The damage is great and possibly there have been more fires since that report. However, I do not appreciate the tenor of their headline when that was clearly not the concern of the fire chief. His main concern was the damage of the water and the problems it created in rescue attempts. He gave Ike a 10-out-of-10 for its damage.

To test if I was overreacting, I tried it out on my wife. I told my wife, "The Galveston Fire Chief says entire neighborhoods are burning." Her eyes widened and she got a very worried look on her face. I then repeated the question to the chief and his answer. Her face slowly came back to a relaxed state, she started to grin a bit and then she said, "Reporters."

So far we have heard of no incidents involving family. One cousin stayed at home in Dickinson, between Houston and Galveston, and another and his wife who were on a cruise ship due to arrive Galveston on Saturday. Bread, I know you have family in Houston. Any word from them?