Austin Fire Department officials gave the Environmental Commission an update on the new Wildland-Urban Interface Code Wednesday. City Council voted in April to adopt the new code, which regulates residential and commercial building requirements to protect structures against wildfires. With the WUI Code expected to be implemented on Jan. 1, 2021, the city is working on […]
Fire
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Austin has a new Wildland-Urban Interface fire code
After years of planning and preparation, City Council unanimously adopted the Wildland-Urban Interface Code last Thursday. In addition to adopting the code, which focuses on regulating building codes to protect structures against wildfires, Council Member Alison Alter made a motion instructing the city manager to outline a separate stakeholder process addressing vegetation management and fuel […]
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Austin firefighters look to California to combat wildfire risk
Outside of California, the Austin metro area is one of the regions in the country most vulnerable to wildfire. According to CoreLogic’s 2019 Wildfire Risk Report, the metropolitan area has the fifth-highest risk in the nation for a major wildfire incident. But that’s not news to city leaders or the Fire Department. Since the Bastrop […]
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Council OKs amended emergency mutual aid pact
Council gave final approval Thursday to a mutual automatic aid agreement designed to ensure that 19 fire and rescue departments throughout Travis and Williamson counties will assist each other in far-flung parts of Austin and the included counties. The city has had such an agreement with Travis County emergency services districts for many years, but […]
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Firefighters union and commissioners call for strengthening AFD sexual harassment policy
In the aftermath of several public sexual harassment cases, Austin EMS and the police and fire departments are updating their sexual harassment policies to create consistency across city emergency services. The action comes in the wake of Austin Fire Department Lt. James Baker’s guilty plea to hiding a camera and filming firefighter Kelly Gall in […]
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AFD, union still at odds over interlocal agreement
Bob Nicks, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, and Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker are locked in a battle over whether the city should sign on to a new mutual aid agreement with emergency services districts in both Travis and Williamson counties and several small cities. While Baker appears to have the winning hand, he […]
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Wildfire audit update shows more work ahead
After hearing a new report from the Office of the City Auditor on Austin’s wildfire response efforts, Council Member Alison Alter said while the report lays out appropriate next steps for the city to take, those steps are probably not enough given the serious nature of the risk. Alter is chair of the Council Audit […]
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Zoning and Platting Commission weighs in on proposed fire code
As Austin weathers the dog days of summer, wildfire risk is once again a hot topic in the city. A new report this week by the Office of the City Auditor said that the city could be doing a better job of fireproofing areas outside of the urban core, an area that’s roughly two-thirds of […]
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AFD under fire for handling of sexual harassment claim despite policy updates
After Austin Fire Department Lieutenant James Baker pleaded guilty to hiding a camera and filming firefighter Kelly Gall in the fire station restroom, AFD revised its harassment policies and implemented the Electronic and Anonymous Reporting System. EARS is intended to bypass the firehouse hierarchy and get complaints directly onto the desk of the fire chief, […]
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Two firefighters fired over ‘theft’ of exam
Fire Chief Joel Baker has fired two firefighters, Nicholas Schroeder and Anthony Stewart, who were attending classes on handling hazardous materials, after Schroeder allegedly stole a copy of the final exam and Stewart took photos of it. The class was required because Schroeder and Stewart had been assigned to the department’s special operations division, where […]
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2019: AFD’s new chief prioritizes communication
After just over five months with an interim chief, the Austin Fire Department finally has a permanent leader. As the year winds down, Joel Baker assumes his role as fire chief at the department amid an environment of transition and growth. With five new fire stations coming online to expand coverage to a growing city, […]
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‘Mega-fires’ are real, but their size is anyone’s guess
When representatives from the Austin Fire Department spoke at the last meeting of the Public Safety Commission, they alluded to a “mega-fire” they said was imminent in West Austin. Although the term may sound alarming, Justice Jones, wildfire mitigation program manager in the department’s Wildfire Division, told the Austin Monitor that there is no true […]