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Fire at Sportsman's Outlet. This is a good shooting range and very close to my home.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hea ... 28611.html


Firefighters from Humble and Atascocita are battling a major fire at the Sportsmen's Outlet on FM 1960, according to Humble Police dispatcher R. Herzog.

The multi-alarm fire, in northeast Harris County, started at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, Herzog said. Firefighters were still at the scene at 9:50 p.m.

The business includes an indoor shooting range, and sells a wide variety of hunting gear and police gear, including guns and ammunition, Herzog said.

Herzog said she had not heard from any of the law enforcement or firefighters at the scene and did not know whether there were any injuries.

That's crazy! I did my qualification for the police academy there. They have a lot of little knick knacks all over the place that are probably lost now. Some of this stuff was pretty neat/old. Also they had tons of very nice animal mounts. This is very unfortunate.

sorry to here about the fire as i almost went there today but instead
I went to try out Shooters Station in Conroe today.
Its a very nice range and store.
Has anyone heard how it started?

Anybody know the details on this fire?

I go by there every day on my way to/from work. The day after the fire the building appeared to be completely gutted but the structure was still standing. Last night when I drove by they had placed plywood over all the exposed openings.

This was a good shooting range with a friendly staff. I took my CHL class there and would often visit with my daughter to work on her marksmanship training. They had a great collection of small GI Joe type dolls with extremely detailed military uniforms from every era and a few antique firearms.

Since it occurred during business hours, I hope that nobody was hurt and they had help moving out some of the "stuff" before all was lost.

In another thread, I posted a comment from AR15.com that was made the night of the fire that the fire started in the firing range area while a police group was shooting and then spread to the store.

It's a crying shame with the display cases of antiques and collectibles on display.

I passed by there yesterday and saw the owner and some friends of his outside in a makeshift tent. The building is still standing but burnt signs seen on the roof and windows. A plywood board covers the latter. Lots of charred remains of furniture are piled outside the parking lot.
I felt bad to see this happened. I hope the owner is well insured and will build a new and better indoor range down the road. I wonder what really happened.

For all who are interested and hopefully to prevent flash fires elsewhere, the Sportsman’s Outlet fire may have been the result of the ignition of accumulated, unburned powder on the range by an errant spark…probably from a shotgun or other long arm.

While I will vouch for the fact that Gary Lee and his staff swept up the range every day and kept it as clean as practical, unburned powder is expelled with every shot fired and gun powder’s granular nature means powder gathers in every nook and cranny of an indoor range no matter how well you sweep. Additionally, it seems powder had accumulated over the years in the carpet and sound damping foam on the walls and ceiling.

It's believed these materials, impregnated with many years’ worth of accumulated, unburned gun powder from millions of rounds fired, acted as an accelerant and the initial fuel for the fire. In light of this, Top Gun has removed all such foam from its firing line for the safety of their customers. As word of this incident spreads, I’m sure other indoor ranges will do the same if they haven’t already.

People often don’t really understand the reason there are so many warnings not to smoke on a gun range. The unburned powder that accumulates on the floor is the primary reason for this warning. If you’ve never seen a flash fire caused by gun powder, it’s a scary sight. I’m not sure any fire other moves quite as fast or aggressively as burning gunpowder.

Thats right. The paper target s left after every shooter also fueled the initial fire i bet. I hope Gary will recover and set up a nicer range. I live nearby and been there last Jan.

Any new news on if they are going to reopen?

Great news for those of us living in the Humble area. I called Sportsman's Outlet today and an employee stated that they are planning to reopen in late September.

Lodge2004 wrote:Fire at Sportsman's Outlet. This is a good shooting range and very close to my home.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hea ... 28611.html


Firefighters from Humble and Atascocita are battling a major fire at the Sportsmen's Outlet on FM 1960, according to Humble Police dispatcher R. Herzog.

Where was/is this business located along FM 1960?

Hoppes

About a half mile east of RT. 59 on the on the right side.

308nato wrote:About a half mile east of RT. 59 on the on the right side.

AHh... thanks. I bought a deer rifle from a gunshop there in 1998. I could not place where this was located.

Hoppes

Anyone heard any recent updates on this one? I emailed Gary the owner back in late September and they were still taking bids on the re-build. I don't want to keep bugging him as I know he must have his hands full.

My wife drove by there the day it burned (just a few hours before) and almost stopped in to purchase my birthday present. Now we're waiting until he's up and running again so I can finally get my gift!!!

I passed by there and no signs of reconstruction.