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Tag Archives: Austin Fire Department
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
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
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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…
Public Safety • By Emma Freer • Sep 13, 2023
Austin firefighters have new contract in place
After years of heated negotiations, and about a year without a contract in place, Austin firefighters finally have an agreement with the city in place. The contract, which is effective immediately, comes from an three-member arbitration panel. Unlike a normal…
Fire • By Elizabeth Pagano • Sep 11, 2023
As heat wave continues, city fleet department works to improve AC maintenance for Austin Resource Recovery
Amid an ongoing spike in repair requests for Austin Resource Recovery vehicles, managers of the city’s fleet have made some changes to improve air conditioning maintenance. A memo released last week showed that since June and July 2022, the Fleet…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 21, 2023
Watson, Brown declare local state of emergency over wildfire threat
Mayor Kirk Watson and Travis County Judge Andy Brown on Tuesday declared a local state of emergency in response to the threat of wildfires. Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott said that wildfires in 191 Texas counties “pose an imminent threat…
Public Safety • By Jo Clifton • Aug 16, 2023
Austin firefighters contract to be decided by binding arbitration
Austin Firefighters Association President Bob Nicks has made no secret of how angry he is with city negotiators. The union and those negotiators could not reach an agreement on a labor contract, and the matter must now be decided at…
Fire • By Jo Clifton • Aug 15, 2023
Here's what you should do if a wildfire threatens your home
Lee esta historia en español Dry grass, wind and relatively low humidity mean a fire can spread easily and be difficult to control. All it takes is a spark from a metal lawnmower blade hitting a rock, a loose chain…
