The drone idles on a small runway at the Austin Radio Control Association, just east of the city. It has a gray body and a white nose, across which someone has painted a sinister smile. The controls are tested, and then the small aircraft takes off. “They’re going through with their first search,” says Sterling […]
Austin Fire Department
firefighters who serve residents inside Austin city limits.
Posted inFire
Fire Department says it needs more fire stations
The Public Safety Commission unanimously recommended a resolution Monday that would require the city manager to submit an annual report to City Council identifying areas of the city most in need of fire stations. If approved by Council, staff will develop a comprehensive plan to be presented to Council in the next budget cycle for […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Committee restarts discussion of fire and EMS merger
Members of the Public Safety Committee heard testimony Monday on the idea of merging the Austin Fire Department with Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services, but city staff and organization heads reiterated time and again that anything official is a long way off. Before a union of the two emergency bodies can even be considered, Austin/Travis County […]
Posted inCity Hall, Fire
City, firefighters reach tentative agreement
After years of strife, the City of Austin and the Austin Firefighters Association successfully concluded the collective bargaining process Monday. Last November, City Council agreed to settle a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged discrimination in the Austin Fire Department’s hiring process. When Council voted to accept the consent decree, which allows […]
Posted inCity Council, Fire, Public Safety
Council delays fire department reclassification plan
A proposal to modify the Austin Fire Department’s leadership hierarchy has encountered headwinds at City Hall. City Council Member Don Zimmerman moved Thursday to prevent a vote on the resolution that proposes tweaking the department’s classification system, including removing several lower-level positions and adding two new division chiefs to Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr’s executive team. […]
Posted inFire, Public Safety
Explainer: AFD, AFA, and the consent decree
Each week, the Explainer offers a closer look at stories we have been following. This week, we look at City Council action from last week that restarts negotiations between the Austin Firefighters Association and city management. It what amounts to its first major non-Council-operations act, City Council members Thursday approved a resolution that instructs Austin […]
Posted inCity Council, Fire
Council OKs restart of firefighter negotiations
As its first major action, the Austin City Council on Thursday approved a resolution directing city management to go back to the bargaining table with the Austin Firefighters Association. But it did not, as initially proposed, direct staff to stop the RFP process for finding a vendor to design a procedure for recruiting a racially […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety
Not all firefighters support pulling RFP
The president of the Austin African-American Firefighters Association told the Austin Monitor that the city would be making a mistake if it stops the RFP process for a plan to recruit new firefighters and returns to the negotiating table, as set forth in a resolution from City Council Member Greg Casar. The item is on today’s […]
Posted inAustin, Fire, Public Safety
Austin firefighters to again seek input on hiring
The Austin Firefighters Association will have an opportunity at this morning’s City Council meeting to voice concerns to the new Council about its lack of input on a new process for hiring fire cadets. The firefighters’ hope is that this Council will be more receptive than the previous one to their complaints about U.S. Justice Department […]
Posted inAustin, Environment, Fire, Public Safety, Resources
Watershed Protection touts wildfire plan progress
Watershed Protection Department staff told the Environmental Board on Wednesday that they have begun to implement an intergovernmental plan designed to help prevent catastrophic wildfires in the future. Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist Ryan Hebrink stressed that the Austin/Travis County Community Wildfire Protection Plan is “not a regulatory document, but a strategic tool.” Travis County, City […]
Posted inElections, Public Safety
Firefighters form new PAC to support candidates
The Austin Firefighters Local 975 has formed a special political action committee to support eight candidates running for City Council on the November ballot. Firefighters president Bob Nicks told the Monitor that the group had raised $200,000 through membership dues and expects to get another $25,000 from the international firefighters union. Nicks said the new […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety
Austin Fire Chief explains to Council why she can’t expand service
Ranks of the Austin Fire Department are down by 76 members and that number is growing every month as veterans retire, according to Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr. Kerr says at that rate, the department would have around 100 vacancies by the end of the fiscal year. The fire department’s predicament stems from its […]