Job seekers waited in line for hours on Saturday for a chance to meet with 25 federal agencies ready to hire, KPRC Local 2 reported.
"We waited three hours, but hopefully it's a good payoff," Anton Pierson said.
Saturday afternoon, The Palm Center Complex in southeast Houston was flooded with applicants looking for jobs with NASA, the Census Bureau and others.
"We need administrative personnel, accountants, people who do everything," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
Still, the desire for work mixed with scorching temperatures and long wait times was too much for a few job seekers.
The fire department was called out after some were overcome by the heat.
"I knew there were a lot of people unemployed, but this is ridiculous. They should have started it earlier in the morning," job seeker Sherri Mullineaux said. "I guess they didn't realize there were going to be this many people."
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee was the organizer. She announced that there would be a second federal job fair due to the overwhelming response.
Jackson Lee said the long wait was due to applicants getting quality time with federal employers.
She said she wouldn't have changed a thing despite some complaints.
"Houston is hot," Jackson Lee said. "I think everyone understands that. For that reason, we did everything that a office that wanted to help should have done."
Organizers said they handed out 5,000 bottles of water.
While there were some who wished the first federal job fair would have run more smoothly, many of the applicants remained positive, hopeful and grateful for the opportunity.
"We hope the story that comes out is there are Houstonians who are ready to work," Jackson Lee said.
"I'm being ambitious I'm being persistent I think it'll payoff and hopefully have a good experience inside," Pierson said.
Organizers said that some job seekers were turned away.
Jackson Lee said the second job fair would take place in about four weeks.