Houston Fire Department Special Operations and Administration
Special Operations and Administration
Assistant Chief William Barry
713-247-4021
1205 Dart Street
Houston, Texas 77007 william.barry@cityofhouston.net
A twenty-six year veteran of HFD, Chief Barry has served as firefighter, EO Paramedic, Hazardous Materials Response Team Captain, Technical Rescue Team Coordinator, Finance & Administration District Chief, and EMS Administration District Chief. Chief Barry has also served on various committees and advisory boards during his career, such as Texas A&M University USAR Advisory Board, District Chiefs' Technical Advisory Committee, Houston Highrise Triad, and Collective Bargaining Committee.
Chief Barry oversees the Administrative function and supervises activities within Human Resources and Special Operations Divisions.
HFD Special Operations responds to emergency hazardous materials incidents, technical rescues, and rescue of aircraft incident victims. It also responds to disasters, assists local emergency responders, directs the Houston Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and liaison to the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management (OEM).
Special Operations Command consists of the following areas:
Hazardous Materials Response Team (HMRT)- The primary service rendered by the HMRT is emergency response to hazardous materials incidents within the City of Houston. HMRT responds to an average of 1000 incidents each year. The types of services rendered at the scene of an emergency include site assessment, container evaluation, threat assessment, victim removal, search and rescue, extrication/dis-entanglement, smoke/toxic gas ventilation, identification/analysis of the material, evacuation, establishing a safe working area, and monitoring or sampling of the material.
HazMat also performs decontamination of personnel and equipment, notification of other agencies, and referral to proper authorities. Another task of the HMRT is primary response to the threatened use of Weapons of Mass Destruction or Terrorist incidents. HMRT is comprised of 42 highly trained personnel who staff two HazMat response vehicles and one foam pumper.
Aircraft Rescue Firefighting (ARFF) - The objective of the Houston Fire Department’s ARFF Operations is to provide a safe exit path and timely rescue of aircraft incident victims. There are 108 members assigned to the airport stations, and they are certified EMT’s that provide First Responder care for airport personnel and the flying public.
ARFF Operations prepares itself through training and education for the following:
Service Calls – assist major air carriers in various activities such as extinguisher classes, rescue classes, flight standards, etc.
Partnership with the Houston Airport System (HAS) – providing an active, productive relationship for both HFD and HAS.
Our challenge is to keep pace with new trends and strive to develop new technical standards for others to utilize.
Technical Rescue Team -The Houston Fire Department Technical Rescue Team is comprised of one team with 40 members. Their goal is to provide a safe and timely rescue of victims. The training focuses on a positive outcome for affected victims while utilizing safe techniques to protect the rescuers.
The Technical Rescue Team prepares itself for and responds to all the following:
Extrication – vehicle and industrial entrapments
High Angle – above grade
Tunnels – below grade
Swift Water
Confined Space
Structural Collapse
Trench Cave-ins
Each assigned member is dedicated to achieving technical excellence in all disciplines of rescue. Their challenge is to keep pace with new trends in rescue techniques and strive to develop new technical standards and prototype technical rescue hardware for others to utilize.
The Technical Rescue staff is comprised of three personnel. The Rescue Chief manages the team, supervises 15 boats in the HFD fleet, all extrication tool capabilities, and is the functional leader of the HFD Texas Task Force #1 Urban Search & Rescue team members.
Texas Task Force I – Urban Search and Rescue Team - Texas Task Force I (TX-TF #1) is a State sponsored Urban Search and Rescue response team designed to provide a coordinated response to disasters in urban environments, emphasizing locating and extricating victims trapped in collapsed structures, confined spaces, or trenches in largely populated areas. The Task Force is capable of responding to state and national disasters including earthquakes, hurricanes, widespread tornadoes and terrorist events. Special Operations is HFD’s representative and advisory council to TX-TF #1.
Houston Medical Strike Team (HMST)- The Houston Medical Strike Team (HMST) is composed of specially trained and equipped fire, medical, police, health and emergency management personnel.
The mission of the Houston Medical Strike Team (HMST) is to respond to, provide support for, and assist local emergency responders in order to effectively address responder’s safety issues, incident management, and public health consequences of incidents involving Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). These incidents are of nuclear, biological, or chemical (NBC) nature resulting from accidental or deliberate acts.
The support and assistance include providing planning and training, identification of the substance, extrication of victims, triage, treatment, and transportation of victims to medical facilities while providing scene safety.
Houston Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) - The Houston Local Emergency Planning Committee promotes emergency planning, preparedness, and public awareness to protect the Houston community from the potential impact of hazardous chemical substances and related disasters.
The Executive Board of the Houston LEPC consists of the elected officers, the chairs of the subcommittees, the Community Emergency Coordinator, the Administrator, and the Legal Advisors.
HFD Liaison - City of Houston Office of Emergency Management (OEM) - Houston, the fourth largest city in the nation, has a metropolitan population of 4 million and land area of 617 square miles. Houston is exposed to many hazards, all of which have the potential for disrupting the community, causing damage and creating casualties. As a major petrochemical manufacturing and distribution center, there is also a significant threat of hazardous material accidents involving the transportation, manufacture, and storage of chemicals on the highways and near neighborhoods. There is also the threat of a weapon of mass destruction incident involving nuclear, biochemical, or chemical devices and local governments must also prepare for the possible threat of terrorism.
The City of Houston provides a multitude of emergency services for the Houston area. The city maintains a well-staffed Office of Emergency Management (OEM) in a state of the art building that was designed specifically to coordinate the City’s overall preparedness and enhance the abilities to manage a disaster response and short-term actions on an independent basis. To meet this challenge, OEM has developed an Emergency Management Plan. This plan provides a framework in which the City of Houston can plan and perform its emergency functions during a disaster or national emergency. While local government has the primary responsibility for emergency management activities, OEM is responsible for proper coordination with the state and federal government, and all city departments in securing additional outside resources and expertise to help manage a disaster. Special Operations is HFD’s liaison to the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management.
primary service rendered by the HMRT is emergency response to hazardous materials incidents within the City of Houston. HMRT responds to an average of 1000 incidents each year. The types of services rendered at the scene of an emergency include site assessment, container evaluation, threat assessment, victim removal, search and rescue, extrication/dis-entanglement, smoke/toxic gas ventilation, identification/analysis of the material, evacuation, establishing a safe working area, and monitoring or sampling of the material.
Each assigned member is dedicated to achieving technical excellence in all disciplines of rescue. Their challenge is to keep pace with new trends in rescue techniques and strive to develop new technical standards and prototype technical rescue hardware for others to utilize.