BROWNSVILLE — The Brownsville Fire Department was called to the El Jardin Hotel in the early hours of Saturday morning after a fire was reported on the rooftop.
For nearly two hours, firefighters battled high winds, freezing temperatures and the fire itself. Ice formed over the gear and equipment, the fire department said.
According to the fire department, the cold required firefighters to rehab and warm up every 20 minutes.
Two ladder trucks, four engine companies, four chief officers and multiple support vehicles responded to the incident. Thirty firefighters extinguished the fire.
The fire department was notified at 4:15 a.m., and the first units were on scene within seven minutes.
The fire was on the rooftop and extended to the floor below. An exterior trash dumpster and some mattresses also caught on fire, according to the fire department.
The fire finally was brought under control at 6:02 a.m. The cause is still being investigated by the Fire Marshal’s Office.
The fire department was on scene again at about 2:30 p.m. after a hot spot reignited a small fire outside the building.
Julian Martinez, one of three caretakers of the property, reported the second fire. He said he often sees teenagers up in the hotel at night, vandalizing the building.
“ I think it may have been the kids just messing around, but, of course, they cause a lot of damage that way,” Martinez said. “They sometimes flash lights outside the windows to let the others know it’s OK to come in.”
Martinez said the fire damaged everything on top of the building. It is also full of graffiti, from the first floor all the way to the seventh.
El Jardin Hotel has been vacant for years and occasionally has been the subject of revitalization. The building is currently owned by Reyes Ponce Environmental LLC, a Fort Worth-based demolition and environmental remediation firm.
A cleanup crew will come in Monday or Tuesday to pick up the burned furniture. Anything that could be a fire hazard also will be removed from the building, he said.
“We supervise the building from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Now, we’ll be doing it until four in the morning and we might stay longer, it just depends,” Martinez said. “We’re going to block all the entrances and temporarily increase security until people know they can’t come in.”
