On January 19, 2003, Gary Staley,31, a Porter Firefighter was battling a blaze in the showroom of an auto restoration shop in Porter at Loop 494 and East Hammond. As they were moving through the building a flashover occurred causing them to back out due to the intense heat. The three firefighters Staley was with became separated. All made it out of the building except for Firefighter Staley. Seconds after they exited the building there was an explosion. Houston Firefighters who were also assisting attempted to make entry and locate Firefighter Staley but the heat kept them back. When they were finally able to enter the structure they found the body of Firefighter Gary L. Staley. He had been with the then Porter Volunteer Fire Department for just over two years. Two of the other three firefighters received critical burns and were hospitalized. He was survived by his daughter and parents.
When Gary was killed a scholarship fund was established to primarily provide financial assistance to firefighters and EMT personnel for their educational and certification training. This fund has provided 185 financial scholarships totaling over $150,000 for fire academy and EMT training. Funds are generated through an annual golf tournament held on the first Saturday in May at the Oakhurst Golf Club and through individual donations. This is the first effort to reach out to the firefighters, EMT and first responders on a county wide endeavor. The water was provided by the Gary Staley Memorial Fund as a needed resource to the dedicated public servants of the county and as a reminder of the perils they too often encounter.
Last week the Gary Staley Memorial Fund purchased a truck load of bottled water. That water was distributed to 13 fire stations around the county. In addition to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Montgomery County Hospital District.
Donations and information on the golf tournament are on the Gary Staley website at ‘www.garystaleymemorial.com’.
The Foundation also would like to put out a big ‘thank you” to Chief Carter Johnson, Reo Kataoka, Richard Mixx, Cody Mixx and Matt Staley for man handling the 1,548 cases delivered within the county.
