A May 19 fire drill that melted siding on an adjacent home continues to create setbacks for Lacy Lakeview city leaders.
More than a dozen Lacy Lakeview residents spoke at Tuesday's council meeting, criticizing the failed practice fire and other city decisions. Some also raised objections to recent changes to garbage and trash collection service and decisions about which streets should be repaved in a bond issue approved in last month's municipal election.
WATCH NOW: Lacy Lakeview City Manager Calvin Hodde discusses infrastructure needs in the city and the possibility of a bond. (January 2024)
The family of the home damaged in the exercise in the 200 block of Birch Street also expressed frustration with the city.
The Lacy Lakeview Volunteer Fire Department burned May 19 a condemned house on that block, owned by City Manager Calvin Hodde, who donated it for the purpose.
The fire's heat melted the side of the house next door, owned by John and Susan May, who had lived there for 40 years. His house had to be temporarily evacuated. The melted siding was still visible Wednesday, along with the bare insulation board where the vinyl was completely gone.
People also read…
The council has held two meetings since then — a May 28 retreat and Tuesday's regular meeting — but has not released any discussion or action items on how to respond to the damage to the Mays' home.
Brandy Zinz, the couple's daughter, addressed the council Tuesday, saying Hodde brought a “war zone” into her parents' home. He added that he offered to pay for repairs to the siding on the house himself.
He alleged that firefighters carried out the training fire despite problems at the nearest fire hydrant as well as windy conditions.
“It was all reckless and botched from the beginning,” Zinz said, adding that he questioned whether the fire was legal.
Zinz asked if the city or department applied for the necessary permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or if they had adequate insurance beforehand.
“What was all the fuss about? What was the rush? Didn't people's lives matter?” Zinz said.
Hodde declined media interviews after Tuesday's meeting. Zinz did not return phone calls from the Tribune-Herald Wednesday seeking more information.
Several other speakers Tuesday called for a “full, impartial, third-party investigation” into the fire and other matters, including the April firing of former Police Chief Jeron Barnett and the October hiring of Cpl. firefighter Adrian Huff, who had a felony conviction. on his 1979 record for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Volunteer firefighter Christy Gomez spoke in support of the city manager and fire chief.
“What happened on May 19 was really an accident,” Gomez said.
Gomez indicated that a similar outcome could have occurred if the department had been called to an unplanned fire.
“We took every precaution we could,” Gomez said.
Two days after the fire, a Lacy Lakeview resident filed an anonymous complaint with the Texas State Fire Marshal's Office about the fire, as well as Huff's actions.
The state fire marshal's office and TCEQ are jointly investigating the fire. No report has been made public yet.
Following Tuesday's regular agenda and consent agenda, the council had scheduled an executive session to discuss the employment of Hodde and Huff. The executive session lasted more than an hour, after which no council member or city official would comment on what was discussed or answer questions about residents holding them to account before the meeting.
Hodde has repeatedly refused to answer Tribune-Herald questions about his decision to hire Huff as fire chief and about the fire that damaged the Mays' home.
