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Tag Archives: Austin Fire Department

Fire/EMS station construction on pace despite pandemic

In 2017, a service needs analysis of the Austin Fire Department led to the City Council-sanctioned creation of a six-year plan to construct and staff five fire/EMS stations in the areas of most need: Del Valle/Moore’s Crossing, Travis Country, Loop…

Firefighters' leader says department needs more funds

When City Manager Spencer Cronk presented the Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget to City Council last week, he noted that the new Loop 360 fire/EMS station would be opening in the coming fiscal year. According to the manager’s budget document, the…

Taking cues from audit, Austin continues to shore up its wildfire prevention strategy

Thanks to climate change, Austinites can expect to see more storms, floods and fires in their future. This week, City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee heard what steps the Fire Department has taken to address the threat of wildfires following…

Postmortem of winter storm raises many questions

While individuals and departments shone in their dedication to the city and its people during the cascade of calamities caused by Winter Storm Uri, City Manager Spencer Cronk still has a lot of questions to answer when he releases the…

Firefighters push for passage of arbitration amendment with Proposition A

Most politically involved Austinites are thinking about Proposition B, the camping ban, or Proposition F, which would eliminate the current city manager form of government and create a “strong-mayor” system. But Austin firefighters are hoping voters will pay attention to…

fire engine

Austin firefighters donate to protect pensions

The political action committee for Austin firefighters was busy the last month of 2020, donating more than $50,000 to Texas lawmakers. Their donations included $10,000 to Rep. Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont), who was elected Tuesday to be speaker of the Texas…

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Public Safety budget discussion wrestles with demands to defund APD

Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo gave the Public Safety Committee a public safety budget overview at its meeting on Monday. Much of the discussion centered around the Austin Police Department budget. Community members and some City Council members have…

Public safety departments run modified cadet classes during pandemic

At the Public Safety Commission’s Monday meeting, Austin Police Department, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services and Austin Fire Department representatives discussed how cadet classes that were delayed due to Covid-19 (and other issues) will move forward. ATCEMS Chief of Staff…

Audit: AFD employee accepted gifts from subordinate

An investigative audit by the Office of the City Auditor has found that Austin Fire Department spokesperson Michelle Tanzola violated city ethics policy by accepting gifts of photographic services from an employee who reports directly to her. Tanzola has responded…

No hiring freeze for public safety employees

While most city departments are exploring how to do more with fewer employees in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Austin’s public safety departments are currently on track to continue hiring as previously budgeted. Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Captain Christa…

Public safety departments present preliminary budget requests

Budget season at the city has already begun for the 2021 fiscal year. In preparation for its deep dive into budget requests from the public safety departments, the Public Safety Commission listened to preliminary budget forecasts at its March 2…

Austin 911 operators effectively field calls, but audit finds gaps in dispatching overall

Operators field roughly a million calls for emergency services in Austin a year. A new city report says those operators do a serviceable job of answering that glut of calls, but found a disconnect between those calls and the delivery…

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