Hays County’s new Public Safety Building, which houses the Emergency Operations Center, was evacuated due to an electrical fire, flooding and generator failure during last week’s freeze, leaving local fire departments to handle dispatching calls the old fashioned way.
Fire Departments adapted quickly to taking calls and writing reports in a more, “simplistic way,” Captain Christopher Robbins at Wimberley Fire and Rescue said — on paper.
Robbins worked a 216-hour shift during the winter storm, which also happened to be his first shift as captain of the operations division. Robbins, alongside both staff and volunteer firefighters, alternated between operations and responding to a slew of calls, including downed power lines, sprinkler systems free flowing into commercial buildings, water main leaks, car accidents and residents who slipped on ice. They supported Wimberley EMS with small engine vehicles with chains to reach areas where ambulances couldn’t, and transported residents to medical facilities.
