HEROES of HARVEY
With countless rescues, firefighter keeps pushing through.
Saving people from dire straits is Richard Saul’s specialty. Ever since childhood he’s known he wanted to be a firefighter. “Most kids outgrow it, but I never did,” he said.
Saul has been a member of the Houston Fire Department since 1993, serving at his current post at Station 10 for the past 13 years. He’s also a member of special operations in the rescue division.
Still, Hurricane Harvey put his breadth of experience and substantial training to the test. He persevered, working for several days straight, to save countless lives from the rising waters that followed the storm.
“We lost track of how many people we helped,” he said.
He was already on shift when the hurricane hit.
“They gave us an idea that it might be bad,” he said. “Sometimes, they say it’s going to be bad and it turns out to be no big deal. But we always plan for the worst.”
Instead of heading home after his 24-hour shift, he stayed to help. Fire Station 10 is located near the Beltway and Bellaire. The rain was falling heavily and the wind continued to howl as he was sent to work near Loop 610 and Bellaire, in the Meyerland area. Saul and his crew got on boats and started bringing families to dry land.
“We got there early in the morning, before sunrise, and stayed late,” he recalled. “We did that for three days in a row.”
Saul remembers the speed and turbulence of the bayou waters. On one street, he watched the floodwaters rushing down like a waterfall.
The firefighters made a plan. Each time they were called to help the residents of a home, they would stay until they cleared the whole street. Sometimes they loaded elderly couples into the boat. Other times, whole families with multiple children climbed on board.
Eventually, Saul and his group of firefighters moved on to Interstate 10 to help those affected by the Addicks Reservoir flooding.
“It wasn’t turbulent,” Saul said. “The water was just rising.”
The most difficult part was helping families who had had no clue the flood would affect them.
“Even though the sun came out, the water continued to rise,” he said. “People thought they were OK, but the next thing they knew, there was 2 feet of water in their houses.”
Saul spent seven days at work before he was able to return to his home in Spring, to his wife, Matacha, and three children.
The fire station is his second home and his crew is like family.
“We’re a bunch of brothers,” Saul said.
He’s known as the cook of the group — and his baked chicken and homemade fettuccini alfredo with chicken or shrimp are famous at the station.
Saul plans to retire from the Houston Fire Department and join the Little York Fire Department this month.
“It’s the worst day of someone’s life, and you can make it a little better for them,” he said. “You just keep pushing.”