Tag Archives: Austin Fire Department

Council urges cutting PFAS from firefighting equipment

On a unanimous vote Thursday, City Council adopted a resolution urging the city’s Fire Department to eliminate PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) from the city’s firefighting equipment, noting that the substance is dangerous not only to firefighters but also to…

City Council • By Jo Clifton • Sep 13, 2024

Firefighters call for more cadets to address safety, mental health needs

The Austin Firefighters Association is seeking more attention to the safety issues facing its membership, which were discussed in part last week during City Council budget sessions. The AFA had planned to hold a press conference Monday to publicize issues…

Budget • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 30, 2024

Staff lays out public safety budget choices for City Council

Looking ahead to a tough budget year, City Council will have to choose between spending on firefighters, emergency medical services, parks maintenance, homeless outreach and improving animal services, among others. Wednesday’s budget presentation did nothing to alleviate budget concerns, with…

Budget • By Jo Clifton • Jul 25, 2024

City honors AFD’s work training firefighters for wildland-urban fires

Throughout her time on the dais, District 10 City Council Member Alison Alter has stressed the need for the city to understand and prepare to fight wildfires in the wildland-urban interface, or WUI, which is the area between unoccupied land…

Fire • By Jo Clifton • Jul 23, 2024

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Will Austin really be the next single-staircase city?

City staff is pushing back on a proposal to allow single stairways for multifamily buildings. City Council unanimously approved a resolution to amend the code and allow multifamily projects up to six stories to have a single staircase in May.…

Development • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jul 2, 2024

Commissioners urge Council to increase public safety budgets

Members of the city’s Public Safety Commission voted unanimously on Monday to recommend that City Council adopt a budget this summer that will support needs outlined by representatives of the Austin Fire Department, Austin-Travis County EMS and the Austin Police…

Budget • By Jo Clifton • Jun 5, 2024

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AFD narrows its wildfire preparedness focus on Eastern Crescent

Ahead of national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day on May 4, the Public Safety Commission this week heard an update on how Austin is faring with its own community readiness efforts. The good news is that Austin leads the state in…

Fire • By Amy Smith • Apr 4, 2024

Austin public safety agencies roll out electronic payroll system

Austin’s public safety agencies – the Austin Fire Department, the Austin Police Department and Austin-Travis County EMS – are in various stages of rolling out an electronic payroll system in an effort to streamline scheduling and other logistical tasks. The…

City Hall • By Emma Freer • Mar 7, 2024

Public Safety Commission encourages language accessibility across public safety agencies

The Public Safety Commission encouraged the city’s public safety agencies to continue efforts to improve language accessibility at its meeting on Monday. “It seems … hugely important that we grow our fluency across all the departments,” said Chair Nelly Ramírez.…

Public Safety • By Emma Freer • Nov 9, 2023

Council OKs contract for new AI wildfire tool

City Council on Thursday approved negotiation and execution of a contract for what Austin Energy describes as a powerful new tool to aid the utility in wildfire detection and response. The utility says it will use Pano AI technology to…

Fire • By Jo Clifton • Oct 6, 2023

City continues to work on wildfire mitigation strategies

The public may not have noticed, but Austin-Travis County had 963 different brush and grass fire alarms in September, Assistant Fire Chief Andre de la Reza told members of the city’s Public Safety Commission on Monday. The department was able…

Fire • By Jo Clifton • Oct 5, 2023

Vacancies at public safety agencies drive overtime costs

Staffing shortages in the city’s police, fire and emergency medical services departments are driving record-high reliance on overtime. Following a request from the city’s Public Safety Commission, public safety officials provided data on overtime use, as well as some possible…

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Tag Archives: Austin Fire Department

Council urges cutting PFAS from firefighting equipment

City Council • By Jo Clifton • Sep 13, 2024

Firefighters call for more cadets to address safety, mental health needs

Budget • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 30, 2024