The overview
Harris County is the first county in Texas to implement this fire code, which is designed to keep vulnerable senior populations safe during emergencies, Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen said Jan. 8.
“Many of these residents are on systems that, if the fire department is not able to get there in time because they're responding to other emergencies, ... these people are at risk and we want to make sure they're safe,” Christensen said.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones said during power outages, the requirement for backup power systems will allow:
- Safe facility temperatures to be maintained
- Vital medical devices, such as oxygen machines, to be powered
- Medications to be preserved
- Emergency communications to be made
- Evacuations to be safer
The context
The new fire code was approved following Winter Storm Uri and Hurricane Beryl—which both induced widespread power outages across the Greater Houston—Briones said.
According to a Jan. 8 news release from Briones’ office, these storms resulted in:
- 10% of nursing homes and nearly 33% of assisted living facilities across Texas losing power during Winter Storm Uri
- 100 senior deaths due to hypothermia in Texas during Winter Storm Uri
- 14 nursing homes and 30 assisted living facilities in Harris County losing power for several days during Hurricane Beryl
- At least one senior death due to extreme heat during Hurricane Beryl
“This is for all of our families, whether it's our parents, our grandparents, our great grandparents [and] all of us—we're all aging, and this could be us,” Briones said. “So we know in the next freeze, the next oppressive heat, the next hurricane, the next derecho, that there will be backup systems in place here in Harris County, because we are taking the lead in setting higher standards of protection and safety.”
