[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8381]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     CONGRESSIONAL TRIBUTE HONORING THE SAN ANTONIO FIRE DEPARTMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CHARLES A. GONZALEZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 8, 2008

  Mr. GONZALEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend Fire Chief 
Charles N. Hood and the brave men and women of the San Antonio Fire 
Department. On Tuesday, May 7th, a four-alarm fire swept through the 
historic Main Building at Our Lady of the Lake University in San 
Antonio, Texas.
  Our Lady of the Lake University was founded in 1895 and was the first 
San Antonio institution of higher education to receive regional 
accreditation. A beacon of hope and opportunity, Our Lady of the Lake 
has provided countless minority and underprivileged students the means 
to a higher education.
  In their valiant efforts to fight this destructive fire, San Antonio 
Fire Department firefighters went from room to room in the 100 year-old 
main building, ensuring that students, faculty and staff were safely 
evacuated. Because of their courageous efforts, not one life was lost 
and amazingly there were no serious injuries reported. While the fire 
was ripping through the third and fourth floors, firefighters worked 
quickly to save the University's mainframe computer and important 
records so that these items were not damaged by the thousands of 
gallons of water being used to fight the fire.
  More than 100 firefighters fought late into the night and were on 
hand to make sure that the Our Lady of the Lake University community 
was safe. I ask my colleagues to join me in commending the efforts of 
the San Antonio Fire Department and offering support for the entire Our 
Lady of the Lake University community as they recover from this 
devastating fire.

                          ____________________