EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Station 9 has been known as the most haunted station in the El Paso Fire Department for years. The crews believe an old captain is still lurking around and looking over the station.
This EPFD station off Dallas Street was built back in 1925.
Battalion Chief Cristopher Hoggard, who is also the EPFD’s historian, explained working or even volunteering for the fire department back then was a matter of great pride.
Each fire station has its own unique history, but Station 9 is known as the haunted one.
Lieutenant Peter Liechti and firefighter Bobby Martinez have been stationed at “9” for over 5 years.
In this period of time they had so many strange occurrences at the station that it became hard to keep track.
“The strainer falls into the sink, I suppose gravity could do that, right? But there is no draft, the doors are closed,” said Lieutenant Liechti.
Liechti added that many firefighters who get assigned to the station end up asking to be transferred somewhere else.
Martinez also remembered they would walk into the bedroom late at night after a call and find the TV upstairs turned on.
He would also often feel tickles on his feet while in bed. His theory is it could be a spirit of a retired fireman Rudy, who used to sleep in his bed.
However, the main theory going around for generations is that the station is haunted by the spirit of Captain Woodard Bloxom.
Bloxom was stationed at “9” back in the 30s.
In 1934, a large fire broke out just across the station at a furniture warehouse. Captain Woodard and his crew rushed out immediately.
“A few minutes after they got inside, there was a flashover, all the contents in the fire get hot enough and everything catches fire at one time,” explained Chief Hoggard.
Captain Bloxom collapsed inside of the building and was dragged out by one of his crew members.
The very next day, he died in the hospital, presumably of smoke inhalation and is now said to be looking after Station 9.
We launched a paranormal investigation with K2 meters that detects spikes in electromagnetic fields, our spirit box that uses radio frequencies as a form of communication with spirits, our REM-pod that beeps to touch and night vision cameras.
There was not much activity at first, though the air did feel heavy once we entered the living room.
Firefighter Martinez joined us in the investigation and said most things usually happen in the living room and the kitchen, or upstairs in the bedrooms.
Our K2 meter didn’t go off in the living room, so we moved to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, we set up a REM-pod on the table. It beeped a couple of times, which means there was some sort of activity, but once we started asking questions all of that stopped.
The REM-pod went off once again while climbing up the stairs.
We did a K2 session in the bedroom as well. Martinez asked if it was Rudy who was touching his feet while he lays in bed, however we got no responses.
We continued with the questions and a spirit box session when the stair doors suddenly opened.
This was a sign for us to go back downstairs and spend some more time in the living room and the kitchen.
Though we didn’t experience anything climactic, something felt odd the whole time during the investigation.
After carefully reviewing all of our footage, I came across this:
It appears to be a figure standing at the kitchen door while we were in the living room.
I couldn’t help but notice a strange resemblance of the figure with Captain Bloxom. Here is a picture for comparison:
In conclusion to the investigation, whether if it is Captain Bloxom haunting, or Rudy or just our imagination running wild , the firefighters believe it is nothing malicious.
“If we’re haunted by a spirit I have no doubt in my mind that this spirit loves this job, loves this station and loves everyone that works here, I think it actually makes Fire Station 9 special,” said Lieutenant Liechti.
Stay tuned for an investigation at Station 10 that used to be a home of a pet monkey. Next episode airs Friday on KTSM 9 News Today at 6:00 a.m.
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